The Sabey Corporation has a secret, high-profile tenant at 375 Pearl Street: Mayor Eric Adams.
The workspace was reported Wednesday by Politico. Deputy mayor for public safety Phil Banks also has an office at the building, which is about half a mile from City Hall.
The offices at the 32-story building allow the mayor and his deputy to function more removed from the prying eyes of the media and the mayor’s constituents. Adams has been famously coy about what property he owns and where he spends his time, although his partying at Zero Bond is well known.
The city’s space at 375 Pearl, the former Verizon building, is not new. In 2017, the city’s Human Resources Administration agreed to a 20-year lease to take 194,000 square feet there.
HRA is occupying part of the 20th floor, as well as floors 21 through 25. Financials of the deal weren’t reported at the time, but asking rents were reportedly in the range of $45 to $51 per square foot.
It’s not clear how much space Adams and Banks occupy. The Real Deal has reached out to Sabey and the mayor’s office for comment.
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Sabey purchased the building with then-partner Youngwoo & Associates in 2011, spending $120 million to pull it out of foreclosure. The owners spent a reported $159 million to convert the former data center space into Class A offices.
Once the renovations were completed, Sabey reportedly aimed to sell the 16-story office condos, which cover 573,000 square feet, for more than $300 million in 2018. Ultimately, it held on to the space.
Last year, Sabey and National Real Estate Advisors landed a $250 million refinancing for the office condo.
— Holden Walter-Warner