UK-Based Reuben Brothers Buys 3 Manhattan Retail Properties From Vornado
An international private equity and development company that has been dropping hundreds of millions on distressed properties around New York City over the past two years reportedly bought three of the retail properties Vornado sold at a loss last week.
London-based Reuben Brothers purchased 677 Madison Ave., 759 Madison Ave. and 828 Madison Ave. from the New York-based real estate investment trust, Commercial Observer reports.
Vornado sold these three buildings, along with two other retail buildings, for a total of $185M, $7M less than what it purchased the properties for, it announced last week. The buyer of these properties was previously unknown.
It has not been revealed how much Reuben Brothers paid for the three properties specifically.
The company is owned by British billionaires and brothers David and Simon Reuben. It has been picking up properties around the city since the pandemic began, the New York Post reported in May.
The company spent $565M on New York City properties in 2020, the Post reported, including the purchases of the Surrey Hotel on the Upper East Side and a Diamond District retail property, 609 Fifth Ave.
As the real estate fallout of the coronavirus pandemic continues, international buyers, and buyers new to the New York market in general, have been swooping in to purchase distressed properties, investment brokers say.
The brothers’ bet on New York doesn’t stop at real estate. In June of last year, they discussed buying a majority stake in the New York Mets.
