Thor Equities Sells Historic SoHo Building to Dyson Family Office for $60M
By Mark Hallum March 17, 2023 1:58 pm
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Thor Equities more than doubled its money on a SoHo commercial property compared to what it acquired it for in 2013, property records show.
Formerly leased to Dolce & Gabbana, the now-vacant three-story building at 155 Mercer Street traded hands between Thor and Weybourne, a U.K.-headquartered family office linked to vacuum cleaner billionaire James Dyson, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
PincusCo first reported the news.
Thor picked up the property in 2013 for $27.3 million from The Joyce Theater Foundation and sold the majority to ASB Real Estate for $93 million in 2016. Thor remained a minority owner, selling the building to Dyson for $60 million after restoring it to its original 19th century glory.
CBRE (CBRE)’s Doug Middleton, Dan Kaplan and Justin Arzi arranged the sale. CBRE declined to comment.
There were, however, multiple rounds of lending that took place on the property, first with a $19 million mortgage from M&T Bank the same year the property was acquired, followed by a $63 million debt it took out from CCRE in 2015. Thor then restructured the debt with $41 million from Midland Loan Services, an affiliate of PNC Bank.
It’s unclear when Dolce & Gabbana vacated the 15,998-square-foot property, between Houston and Prince Streets, or how long the lease signed in early 2015 would last. Google lists the location as temporarily closed.
But the landmarked building underwent considerable work on the facade and other elements to restore it to its original appearance when it served as a firehouse for the New York Volunteer Fire Department — predating the existence of the New York City Fire Department — starting in 1854, according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The building, which was also used by FDNY until the 1970s, sits in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District.
Thor Equities did not respond to a request for comment.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
