Columbia Property Trust Sells 149 Madison at $11M Loss
By Mark Hallum February 9, 2023 4:12 pm
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Columbia Property Trust has offloaded the vacant 149 Madison Avenue at an $11 million loss after losing WeWork (WE) as its main tenant and repositioning the property.
The 12-story, 127,000-square-foot office building sold for $77 Million to Enchanté Accessories, a company that produces jewelry and home decor, according to property records, a loss compared to the $87.7 million Columbia paid for the dirt beneath the property in 2017.
Columbia later took control of the building itself in 2018 when the 60-year leasehold expired, The Real Deal reported.
“The sale of 149 Madison Avenue represents the continued demand for high-quality, well-located office buildings in Manhattan,” Kassin Sabbagh Realty’s Albert Sultan, who represented Enchanté in the transaction alongside Ike Bibi, said in a statement.
Evan Layne and Brett Siegel of Newmark (NMRK) brokered the deal on behalf of Columbia Property Trust.
“We continue to see strong liquidity and investment demand for boutique, modernized office properties in transit-oriented locations like 149 Madison Avenue,” Siegel said in a statement..
It’s unclear whether or not the office building between East 31st and East 32nd streets has actually seen tenant demand in recent years.
WeWork vacated the premises in June 2020, only two years after signing a deal for 115,000 square feet, leaving the entire office portion of the building devoid of tenants. The coworking provider had planned to move in sometime in 2019, but financial troubles delayed any occupancy. Then, the pandemic made matters worse.
In June 2021, Columbia took action to get companies back through the door with a boutique office vibe, adding prebuilt suites and a cafe for tenants. It had planned to bring in an operator for all these amenities, but that perhaps wasn’t meant to be, either.
The cost of the repositioning in 2021 is not clear.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
