iStar buys into ground under 32 Old Slip for $91M

Leon Melohn unloads stake in the fee position

iStar's Jay Sugerman and 32 Old Slip (Getty, RXR Realty)
iStar's Jay Sugerman and 32 Old Slip (Getty, RXR Realty)

iStar has bought a stake in the ground underneath RXR Realty’s 32 Old Slip office building in the Financial District for $90.5 million.

The publicly traded investment firm bought the interest from the family trust of developer Leon Melohn, property records filed with the city Wednesday show.

A spokesperson for iStar declined to comment and a representative for Melohn Properties could not be immediately reached.

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Melohn purchased the fee interest for $197.5 million in 2015 from Scott Rechler’s RXR in partnership with David Werner. RXR had just purchased the property from Beacon Capital Partners and then decided to split the fee and leasehold positions, controlling the 1.2 million-square-foot office tower through a 150-year lease.

iStar’s ground lease REIT, Safehold, has been aggressively investing in New York in recent years.

The company bought the ground under the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn in February for $45 million.