Luxury hotel developer Morris Moinian is closing on his $39 million purchase of 1150 Ave. of the Americas today with plans to build a new tower on the site, sources said.
The 100-year-old eight-story loft office building of 48,000 square feet, a.k.a. the Pan American Magazine Building, will likely be demolished when vacated and plans are approved for a new $140 million tower. Duane Reade is the retail tenant.
Moinian of Fortuna Realty Group is weighing options for the site on the easterly block front between W. 44th and 45th streets, which is ideally situated near Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, Times Square and the Diamond District.
The developer — who built the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea and has another planned in SoHo — could create a five-star hotel, a la the Four Seasons, or an office building with a major retail component.
“South of 125th Street from river to river is a terrific hotel site,” said LW Hospitality Advisors’ Daniel Lesser, who is not involved in this deal. He noted that New York City, even with 80,000 hotel rooms, is short on hotels.
Regardless, Moinian intends for it to be a glamorous 35- to 40-story building of 140,000 square feet, sources said.
Peter Hauspurg of Eastern Consolidated said he was creating marketing materials for the property when Moinian and Eastern broker Azita Aghravi swooped in with a “strong” offer. Moinian is putting in $20 million in cash and has financing from M&T Bank to close the purchase.
The building’s longtime owner, Pan American Magazine Publisher Farris A. Flint, created the Americas Association in 1941, and performed the dedication at the renaming of Sixth Avenue to Avenue of the Americas in 1946.
