Thor sells UES commercial townhouse for $32M

Buyer appears to be tied to French oil dynasty

36 East 61st Street and Joe Sitt
36 East 61st Street and Joe Sitt

Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities sold its Upper East Side commercial townhouse for $32 million, property records filed with the city Friday show.

The 26-room, limestone and brick property at 36 East 61st Street sold at a 13 percent discount to the $36.9 million asking price it had when it hit the market back in April.

A representative for Thor wasn’t immediately available for comment. Broker Matthew Lesser of Leslie J. Garfield, who had the exclusive listing, declined to comment.

The buyer is an LLC with an address in London that appears to be tied to the wealthy Perrodo oil family’s energy company Perenco S.A.

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Thor bought the property in late 2014 for $27 million. The 15,900-square-foot building, between Madison and Park avenues, is zoned for commercial use and was fully leased when it hit the market a few months ago.

Thor put the building on the market soon after HNA Group bought art heir David Wildenstein’s Upper East Side mansion for a record $79.5 million with plans to transform it into a boutique corporate office building.

The deal gave a shot of optimism about the city’s lagging townhouse market.

In its June issue, The Real Deal looked at how Thor was responding to the decline in Manhattan luxury retail.