The owners of 405 Park Avenue are buying 30,000 square feet of air rights from St. Patrick’s Cathedral for about $10 million, the second deal under the city’s Midtown East rezoning.
MRP Realty and Deutsche Bank Asset Management teamed up to buy 405 Park Avenue in 2016 for $240 million and now plan to add four floors and 205,000 square feet of office space to the building with the air rights purchase, according to Crain’s.
Rents at the new offices are expected to go for more than $100 per square foot. The building now stands 17 stories tall, and the companies are also planning a gut renovation of the property, making improvements to the façade and the lobby.
St. Patrick’s should make at least $7.2 million in the deal, while the rest of the money will go toward a fund to make public improvements to Midtown East, per the requirements of the rezoning.
JPMorgan was the first company to make plans under the Midtown East rezoning, recently announcing that it will tear down its 270 Park Avenue headquarters and build a 2.5 million-square-foot tower in its place.
Other buildings that may take advantage of the rezoning include the Pfizer headquarters at 219 and 235 East 42nd Street, the MTA headquarters at 341-347 Madison Avenue, the W Hotel at 541 Lexington Avenue, the 14-story office building at 300 Park Avenue and the Roosevelt Hotel at 45 East 45th Street. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small