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New York

Moinian takes over most of Thor’s stake in Fifth Ave office building

Thor’s share of 245 Fifth Ave dwindles to just 7% after debt-for-equity swap

From left: Thor Equities Joe Sitt and The Moinian Group's Joseph Moinian with 245 Fifth Avenue (Getty, Thor Equities, The Moinian Group)

From left: Thor Equities Joe Sitt and The Moinian Group’s Joseph Moinian with 245 Fifth Avenue (Getty, Thor Equities, The Moinian Group)

Joe Sitt’s Manhattan footprint is shrinking.

Sitt’s Thor Equities has ceded the vast majority of its 50 percent stake in the 24-story office building at 245 Fifth Avenue to its co-owners, a recent filing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange indicates. 

Thor’s stake in the 300,000-square-foot property at the corner of East 28th Street has been reduced to 7 percent, while its partners — including the Moinian Group and individual members of the Moinian family — now own the remaining 93 percent. 

The Moinian Group appears to have upped its stake in the building by converting to equity a $20 million loan it provided to Thor, according to the TASE filing, which was first reported by PincusCo.

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The Moinian family has owned a piece of the Fifth Avenue property since 2007, when it partnered with Goldman Sachs to buy it for $190 million. Four years later, Goldman sold its stake in the property to a joint venture of Moinian and Thor for $161.5 million. The partners then scored a $160 million refinancing loan from AIG in 2016. 

Thor, which owns a string of prime retail properties further up Fifth Avenue, has long been a prominent player in Manhattan commercial real estate. But over the last few years the company has faced foreclosures, sold off some problem assets and increasingly invested in warehouses and logistics facilities. 

Last year, Thor acquired three industrial properties in New Jersey, including a 330,000-square-foot warehouse in Passaic, for $52 million. And it launched Thor Digital, a division focusing on buying and developing data centers across Europe.

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Sitt is also pursuing a self-described “underdog” bid for one of three casino operating licenses up for grabs in New York City. Sitt’s proposal would bring one of those casinos to Coney Island, a $3 billion project that bears a number of similarities to a Las Vegas-style project he pitched for the Brooklyn neighborhood nearly two decades ago.

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