DON’T let a slowdown in the commercial sales market become a disappointment, because in this city, those poised to seize and sit can make fortunes from those less fortunate.
A Class-B loft office building in the TriBeCa historic district at 396 Broadway on the southeast corner of Walker St. is such a case in point.
Flashback to 1994 when a referee foreclosed on the 1915-era building from the poorly named Fortune Smooth US Ltd., and resold it for $1 million to an entity controlled by Isaac Chetrit.
Now, market snitches tell us a major Spanish company, through a US affiliate, has signed a binding letter of intent to buy the same building for around $40 million from Chetrit.
The binder keeps Chetrit from selling it to someone else and gives the Spaniards the ability to decide to buy after a long due diligence period or lose a deposit.
The city’s Finance Dept. pegs the 10-story structure at 61,219 feet, bringing the price to $653 a foot.
Leasing agents from Jones Lang LaSalle are asking $48 to $50 a foot for full-floor units of 5,978 feet, but we understand that Citibank is leaving and the building will be delivered vacated.
The buyers are plotting their next moves that could include a 100-room hotel option.
Remember the weak dollar is attracting lots of European buyers for city goods and assets.
David Behunic of DMB Capital Realty Advisors and Petar Vided of A&I Realty are representing the buyers.
Coincidentally, David Barrette the founder of Cast Iron Real Estate, who is representing Chetrit previously had offices in the property.
“That portion of Lower Broadway needs a boost but this is a tremendous opportunity with a lot of frontage for retailers and a great building,” he said. “That area will flourish.”
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The Christmas Eve closing of the $1.15 billion purchase of 230 Park Ave. by Monday Properties from Istithmar had always been scheduled for the fourth quarter.
That’s because Istithmar’s loan had been sold off to six different lenders that all had to accept Monday and its Goldman Sachs Whitehall fund partners as the new own ers.
“That by itself took a long time and then the credit markets slowed things down and made things a little bumpy,” said An thony Westreich, President and CEO of Monday.
The contract at $825 a foot had been signed at the end of March.
A capital improvement program will be completed, which includes beefing up the power capabilities and finishing façade work.
Lobby enhancements include another visitor’s center on the 45th St. side of the landmarked building that straddles Park Ave. and runs to 46th St.
There are still some in-place rents of $45 a foot while the building averages about $80 and Monday expects to take advantage of that spread.
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Year-end figures from Jones Lang LaSalle’s research department show what we’ve all been saying all year: a trend to lower vacancy rates and higher rents.
Overall average asking rental rates in Manhattan increased by nearly 32 percent in 2007 with Class-A spaces getting a 25 percent boost in rents and Class-B more than 31 percent.
In the last quarter alone, the overall vacancy rate dropped 3 percent.
