Jeff Gural is planning another big office-to-resi conversion in the Financial District.
Gural’s GFP Real Estate is in contract to buy the 1960’s-era office building at 222 Broadway from Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm for $150 million, sources told The Real Deal. That’s less than a third of the $500 million the bank paid for the 31-story building in 2014, and the latest indicator of how office prices have fallen.
Gural confirmed the deal but declined to comment further. A representative for Deutsche Wealth Services could not be immediately reached for comment. A Newmark team led by Adam Spies and Josh King brokered the sale.
At about 778,000 square feet, 222 Broadway could be converted into somewhere between 600 and 800 apartments. The office portion is only 31-percent occupied after Bank of America, which had leased the majority of the space, let its lease expire.
GFP is in the market looking for a $200 million construction loan to finance the conversion. A Newmark team led by Jordan Roeschlaub and Chris Kramer has the assignment.
The project is the latest office-to-resi development Gural is undertaking.
GFP is working on what will be the city’s largest conversion: turning the 1.1 million-square-foot 25 Water Street into 1,300 rental units. Gural’s company bought the 1969 building in late 2022 for $251 million with Nathan Berman’s MetroLoft Management and Rockwood Capital.
Gural is also part owner of the Flatiron Building, and is partnering with the Brodsky Organization and the Sorgente Group to transform the iconic landmark into condos.
As outdated office buildings empty out, more developers are taking advantage of low prices to meet the demand for more apartments.
Elsewhere in the Financial District, Vanbarton Group recently launched leasing at its conversion of 160 Water Street into 600 rentals. Berman’s Metro Loft and Silverstein Properties plan to convert the 30-story 55 Broad Street into some 570 units.
Former Silverstein president Marty Burger recently launched a new company backed by Andrew Farkas’ merchant bank Island Capital Group that will focus on conversions.
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