This Week’s N.Y. Deal Sheet: Sotheby’s Closes $100M Deal For Former Whitney Museum
Sotheby's New York has acquired the former site of the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan’s Lenox Hill neighborhood for $100M.
The auction house plans to put the Breuer Building at 945 Madison Ave. through an adaptation and renovation process led by architects Herzog & de Meuron, per a release. Sotheby’s eventually plans to use the gallery space as auction rooms, exhibitions and a restaurant.
News of Sotheby’s acquisition first emerged last June, but the deal finally closed on Nov. 1, PincusCo reported.
The five-story, 1966-built Breuer Building, designed by Hungarian-American architect Marcel Breuer, was the longtime home of the Whitney Museum before it moved to the Meatpacking District. The Breuer Building has since served as exhibition space for the Frick Collection while that gallery’s permanent space is under renovation.
Sotheby’s was represented by CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Lauren Crowley Corrinet, Doug Middleton and Elliot Bok in the deal.
TOP SALES
Goose Property Management has acquired a development site in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood for $22M, Commercial Observer reported. Elo Group was the seller on the 110K SF lot at 172 Third Ave. Goose Property Management’s plans for the property are unclear, but the deal was brokered by Venture Capital Properties’ Hirschy Zaks. This is the latest acquisition for Goose, which snapped up a former manufacturing property in nearby Boerum Hill in April for $40M with plans to turn it into a 200-unit multifamily project. It has also made other purchases in Brooklyn neighborhoods with plans to build large multifamily properties in the place of existing buildings.
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Leon Dalva has sold 53 E. 77th St. to EMS Capital for $26M, CO reported. Antiquities dealer Dalva Brothers, where Leon Dalva is president, has operated the 124-year-old building as an art gallery, although it was originally built as a Victorian mansion. Dalva had also submitted plans to NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to restore the building’s facade, which was originally Beaux-Arts-style but later was redone into neo-Spanish renaissance. Global Wealth Office brokers reportedly put together the deal, although it’s unclear which brokers or what side of the transaction they represented.
TOP LEASES
Vorea Group has signed local gym chain Vibe Fitness to 55K SF at a newly constructed Long Island City property, 10-04 Borden Ave., The Real Deal reported. Vibe Fitness signed for three floors at the development, spanning 55K SF, with plans to use the space as its flagship location. Asking rents were $65 per SF. The deal was brokered by Pinnacle Realty’s George Maragonis and James Tack and New York Squared Real Estate Group’s Constantine Hrisikos for Vibe Fitness. Brokers Adam Joly and Rachel Cohen from Vorea’s commercial leasing arm, Igloo, handled it for the landlord.
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Luxe fitness chain Equinox signed for 30K SF at Hudson Square Properties’ 75 Varick St., according to a release. Equinox will be in the 17-story building for 20 years under the lease’s terms. It’s unclear who brokered the deal on behalf of the tenant or the landlord, which is a joint venture of Trinity Church NYC, Norges Bank Investment Management and Hines.
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Human services organization Rising Ground has signed a 27K SF lease at 111 Livingston St. in Downtown Brooklyn for a 15-year term, according to a release. The new lease covers the entire 20th floor and part of the 19th floor and will serve as a hub for the organization’s family and youth support programs. Rising Ground recently expanded its administrative HQ at 1333 Broadway to 30K SF and has plans to consolidate its locations in the Bronx. The organization is expected to move into the Downtown Brooklyn space next spring and was represented by OPEN Impact Real Estate’s Stephen Powers, Lindsay Ornstein, Alexander Smith and Kendall Elliott. The building’s owner, reported by The Real Deal as The Leser Group, was represented in-house, per the release.
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SL Green has signed law firm Kauff McGuire & Margolis to 17K SF at 810 Seventh Ave., the REIT announced. Located in Manhattan’s Plaza District, the building has a tenant roster including Mirae Asset Securities, Bond New York and Bragar, Eagel & Squire. Kauff McGuire will occupy the whole 33rd floor and was repped by Cushman & Wakefield’s Peter Trivelas, Justin Royce and Justin Sodokoff. Cushman & Wakefield’s Harry Blair, Tara Stacom, Barry Zeller, and Pierce Hance repped SL Green.
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Pixida, a Mediterranean-style restaurant with a focus on Greek food, signed a lease to open a 16K SF eatery at The Moinian Group’s 245 Fifth Ave., according to a release. The restaurant is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2025 and will occupy a multilevel space in the building. Other tenants include Valley National Bank, The Hon Co. and Elite Models. The Moinian Group’s Gregg Weisser, as well as Lee & Associates NYC’s Brad Schwarz and Olivia Hwang, repped the landlord group in the deal. Pixida was repped by Compass’ David Graff.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
American Realty Advisors refinanced an apartments-over-retail building near the Bowery for $210M, PincusCo reported. The loan, from Bank of China, covers the 361-unit residential condo at 229 Chrystie St. and an 84K SF retail condo with the address of 95 E. Houston St. The refi replaces a prior loan worth $260M, which also came from Bank of China.
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Deutsche Bank has agreed to lend The Macerich Co. $525M to refinance Queens Center, a 91% occupied mall in the Queens neighborhood of Elmhurst, Crain’s New York Business reported. The debt replaces a previous, $600M CMBS loan tied to the six-building property at 90-15 Queens Blvd., 57-15 92nd St. and 58-06 92nd St., PincusCo reported. The refi brought the five-year loan’s interest rates up by 1.9% to 5.4%. The mall is one of Macerich’s top performing properties, per Crain’s.
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Meadow Partners nabbed a $96M refi from Hudson Bay Capital Management for 15 properties totaling 107 residential units in Manhattan and Brooklyn, PincusCo reported. Properties in the deal include a 24-unit walkup building at 81-83 St. Marks Place and a six-unit mixed use building at 167 First Ave., both in the East Village, plus a 13-unit walkup at 704 8th Ave. in Park Slope. The 15 properties combined span a total of 123K SF. The loan retired a previous sum of $48.8M from Fortress Investment Group.
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RFR Holding scored an $82.4M refi for three properties from Madison Realty Capital, PincusCo reported. The buildings include 175 Third St. and an industrial building at 225 Third St., both in Gowanus. RFR was facing the maturity of a 2018 loan of around $112.2M, and the property is in contract to sell to Charney Cos. and Tavros Capital for around $160M, per prior reporting from The Real Deal. It is unclear if the refi affects the sale.
