Gaia Closes $147M Murray Hill Purchase, Going Condo with Andres Escobar Design
By Lauren Elkies Schram August 20, 2014 5:30 pm
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Investment firm Gaia Real Estate has nabbed 144 units at Murray Hill’s Corinthian from Spitzer Enterprises for $147 million. The sale, at 330 East 38th Street, closed on Aug. 14, with the transaction appearing in public records today. Gaia is converting the units, which Spitzer Enterprises had been renting out, back to condominiums, with an Andres Escobar design, Commercial Observer has learned.
In December 2013, Gaia acquired the whole 50th floor for $14.55 million and is nearing completion of the gut renovation of 15 new condos, which the company will keep for its partners, said Danny Fishman, a managing partner at Gaia.
GF55 Partners is the architect for all 159 units and Mr. Escobar is designing the interiors of the 144 units purchased this month.
Mr. Fishman said the existing 144 units range from 600-square-foot studios to 1,700-square-foot three-bedrooms. Some of the units will be combined to create 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom pads. The 144 units are spread throughout the building, which is between First and Second Avenues, from the fifth to 56th floors.
Gaia liked the deal because “there’s a lot of upside coming into this area,” Mr. Fishman said.
Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services marketed the units in the 57-story, 817-unit building (some of the original units have been combined) for Eliot Spitzer-led Spitzer Enterprises, which developed the building in 1987. Mr. Knakal did the deal directly with Gaia.
Spitzer Enterprises didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
