A 32-story Upper East Side rental tower just got a new owner, and renewed questions about its affordability, Commercial Observer has learned.
Stonehenge NYC picked up the 196-unit building at 408 East 92nd Street for about $115 million from UBS on Monday, as the property nears the end of an agreement to keep 20 percent of its apartments rent stabilized, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The tower, dubbed RiverEast, benefits from the state’s now-expired 421a program. But after the deal expires in 2026 Stonehenge can either convert all the apartments to market-rate housing or extend the affordability commitment for another 15 years as long as it makes 25 percent of the units rent stabilized, The Real Deal reported.
Stonehenge hasn’t decided if it will keep the affordability component, the source said. A spokesperson for Stonehenge did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for UBS declined to comment.
RiverEast’s apartments rent for up to $7,000 a month for a two-bedroom unit, though its affordable homes are capped at $931 a month for households making no more than $51,560 a year, according to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and RiverEast’s website.
UBS bought the 194,000-square-foot building for $94.8 million in 2006 and started marketing the tower for sale last year, though the deal closed for slightly less than the $120 to $125 million UBS hoped to get, TRD reported.
Eastdil Secured’s Gary Phillips, Will Silverman and Daniel Parker brokered the purchase. Eastdil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stonehenge bought RiverEast debt-free, and Eastdil is currently shopping for acquisition financing, according to the source.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
A joint venture between Blackstone Group and RXR Realty put the 40-story 1330 Avenue of the Americas up for sale, looking to get more than $350 million for it, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
A group of investors led by RXR first purchased the tower — previously known as the Financial Times Building — for roughly $400 million in 2010 from Canadian lender Otera Capital, after Otera took over the property when Harry Macklowe was forced to auction it off in 2009 following the financial crisis. Macklowe bought it at a much higher price, for $498 million in 2006.
Blackstone purchased a stake in the building, located between West 53rd and 54th streets, in 2015 as part of a deal to buy a roughly 50 percent stake in a portfolio of six New York City office properties from Scott Rechler’s RXR.
The property had the United Kingdom-based Financial Times’ initials plastered on the top floor until 2020, when the publicly traded firm Silvercrest Asset Management replaced the logo with its own. The Emery Roth & Sons-designed property is also home to furniture company Knoll and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The building is being offered free of any debt, according to the source. RXR paid off a previous $200 million loan from New York Community Bank on the property in 2018 with $285 million from DekaBank, which included a new five-year, $97 million mortgage, Commercial Observer reported at the time.
It’s unclear how much debt is left on the DekaBank loan, but the amount will likely be paid when the tower is sold, according to the source.
Eastdil Secured’s Will Silverman, Gary Phillips and Steven Binswanger are marketing the property for the seller. Eastdil declined to comment on the deal. Blackstone declined to comment and RXR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
Rudin Management is selling 55 Broad Street for about $180 million to a joint venture of Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft, Commercial Observer has learned.
The 30-story building between Beaver Street and Exchange Place is in contract for sale, according to the source with knowledge of the deal, though it’s unclear when the deal will close. The Rudin family has owned the building since the 1960s and renovated the lobby and entrance to include new marble walls, reflective ceilings and upgraded security systems in 2019.
The property is home to the charter school network Uncommon Schools, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, the French engineering firm Systra and a Starbucks. Rudin refinanced the building in 2016, snagging a $60 million mortgage from State Farm Realty Mortgage that restructured debt going back to the 1950s, property records show.
Rudin built the property, designed by Emery Roth & Sons, as the headquarters for Goldman Sachs — which left for 85 Broad Street in 1983 — and later renovated the property in the early 1990s when it established the Lower Manhattan tower as one of the first tech hubs in the city, equipped with high-speed Ethernet cables and video conferencing.
Eastdil Secured’s Gary Phillips, Steve Binswanger and Will Silverman advised Rudin on the sale, according to the source. Eastdil, Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft declined to comment. Rudin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.