Ashkenazy Picks Up UWS Movie Theater For $53M
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. is moving ahead with its purchase of an AMC movie theater on the Upper West Side after a lawsuit from a nearby developer to block the sale fell flat.
Ashkenazy is paying $53M to AMC for 2318 Broadway, The Real Deal reports. Ashkenazy will lease the space back to AMC for 15 years, with an option to extend. AMC will pay $3M for the first year, and the rent will increase 2% each year, according to TRD.
The Bromley Cos., the developer behind a condominium building above the theater, tried to stop the sale with a lawsuit, claiming it should have been given the chance to buy it first because of a 1985 easement agreement.
A judge in the commercial division of the New York State Supreme Court found in favor of AMC, and the sale to Ashkenazy can now proceed. Adam Spies, Kevin Donner and Hall Oster of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.
Ashkenazy is joining with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. to buy out their partners at the Plaza Hotel. Last month, Ashkenazy scored a $430M floating-rate loan from Citigroup and Natixis for Union Station in Washington, D.C. The firm has managed the space through a lease with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the past 11 years.
