Thor Picks Up Extell’s 734 Bway, Penthouse Plans TBD [Updated]
By Lauren Elkies Schram February 9, 2015 9:00 am
reprints
Joseph Sitt‘s Thor Equities has purchased a Noho loft building from Gary Barnett‘s Extell Development, in the third such deal between the two firms in roughly the last two years, according to a source with intimate knowledge of the deal. The contract was signed last Friday.
Last May, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans to restore the 1872 building at 734 Broadway south of Astor Place, Curbed reported, and install a two-story penthouse on top of the five-story building. Mr. Sitt hasn’t yet determined whether or not to proceed with the addition, the source indicated.
The current sale price wasn’t available, and Thor declined to comment through a spokesman while Mr. Barnett didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In November 2011, Mr. Barnett bought the building along with 736 Broadway for $11 million, property records indicate.
Mr. Sitt liked 734 Broadway, which includes 6,500 square feet of retail space and is completely vacant, for its “close proximity” to New York University, the source said.
It wasn’t clear if Thor had any partners in the deal. Jonathan Butwin, Brandon Thomas and Scott Dweck of Town Commercial, a division of Town Residential, brokered the deal.
Thor, Madison Equities and Building and Land Technology closed on the $260 million purchase of Extell’s 212 Fifth Avenue, as Commercial Observer reported on Jan. 27, and in early 2013, Thor bought the block-long retail at 690 Madison for $277 million from Mr. Barnett.
Update: This story was updated to include the brokers’ names.
