There’s a significant new participant, and a brand new plan, for 300 E. forty second St., an 18-story, 235,000 square-foot workplace and retail constructing which investor David Werner was reported to be shopping for at a deep low cost.
Though not but posted in public data, the acquisition closed final Wednesday for $52 million, as anticipated — lower than half the property’s final sale worth in 2019.
However the twist is that Werner is flipping a lot of the constructing for a partial residential conversion, whereas preserving its invaluable 7,300 sq. toes of retail for himself.
The conversion undertaking will first come to life with a $45 million, pre-development acquisition mortgage from Ran Eliasaf’s non-public fairness agency Northwind Group. The mortgage additionally closed final week. A building mortgage is probably going 9 months to a 12 months away.
Northwind just a few years in the past supplied a $313 million building mortgage to revive the then-stalled 125 Greenwich St. condominium tower and has been a really lively lender on the event scene.
Eliasaf declined to establish Werner’s flipee. Nor would he affirm what residential-market sources advised Realty Verify — that the brand new proprietor of a lot of the constructing is CSC, an actual property funding agency specializing within the redevelopment and repositioning of distressed property.
CSC’s New York Metropolis initiatives embrace the adaptive reuse of a former Catholic church at 2045 Madison Ave. in East Harlem, and the conversion of a decayed hostel into the hip Riff Chelsea Lodge at 397 Eighth Ave. in Chelsea.
Eliasaf did share that the plan at 300 E. forty second St. is to go away about 90,000 sq. toes on increased flooring, that are primarily leased to diplomatic and authorities tenants, as workplaces.
However greater than 93,000 vacant sq. toes will probably be transformed to 135 rental flats, Eliasaf stated. The undertaking will possible take pleasure in a tax abatement below the state’s 467-m program to facilitate residential conversions, in trade for earmarking 20% of models as inexpensive.
Eliasaf famous, “The ability to deliver mostly free-market new supply is very attractive, especially in Midtown.”
The constructing at 300 E. forty second St. stands diagonally throughout the Second Avenue intersection from two former Pfizer buildings which might be being transformed right into a city-high 1,600 rental flats. Werner is a associate in that formidable undertaking with Nathan Berman’s MetroLoft.
