JJ Operating snapped up a two-story commercial building in Chelsea for $107 million, one of the company’s largest purchases in Manhattan to date.
The family-led firm purchased 258-278 Eighth Avenue, a 40,000-square-foot commercial building at 24th Street and Eighth Avenue. Documents filed with the city’s Department of Finance show that the John Q Aymar Corporation, a company affiliated with Midboro Management, was the building’s seller.
The building is home to New York Sports Clubs, Gap, CVS and other stores. JJ Operating, a company owned by members of the Jemal family, didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment on the deal, which was first reported by Law360.
Signature Bank provided $34 million to help finance the purchase, records show.
Eastdil Secured’s Brett Siegel and Jean Celestin represented the seller and arranged the transaction.
Earlier this month, JJ Operating refinanced 2501 Grand Concourse, a 264,720- square-foot retail and office building in the Bronx. Bank of America provided $52.5 million in financing to replace a 2011 loan from Capital One. In May, the company sold 633 Fulton Street to the Rabsky Group for $68 million, one of the biggest sales in Brooklyn in the second quarter of this year.
According to its website, JJ Operating has also owns 1775 Grand Concourse in the Bronx as well as retail properties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Jemals were among the prominent Syrian Jewish real estate families featured in The Real Deal’s profile of Deal, New Jersey.