Related Sells 321 West 44th Street at $103M Loss

An affiliate of Related Companies will sell off a Hell’s Kitchen office building at a $103 million loss.

Empire Capital and Namdar Realty Group have agreed to buy Related Fund Management’s 10-story, 220,000-square-foot office building at 321 West 44th Street for less than $50 million, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. That price marks a roughly 67 percent decrease from Related’s roughly $153 million purchase of the property in 2018.

Spokespeople for Related, Empire Capital and Namdar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Related bought the Hell’s Kitchen office building from Tokyo-based Unizo Real Estate, which likewise sold the development at a loss — albeit a smaller one of roughly $12 million. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce provided $102.6 million to Related in financing that same year. 

Both the landlord and its lenders were united in selling the property quickly as the loan balance for Related’s office tower surpassed $100 million, according to Bloomberg.

CBRE (CBRE)’s Doug Middleton, Jack Stillwagon and Pat Arangio handled the deal, according to the brokerage’s spokesperson. CBRE declined to comment.

This deal is not the first partnership between Empire Capital and Namdar. The two purchased a Midtown office property at 830 Third Avenue two years ago for $72 million, according to Bloomberg. 

It is unclear what Empire and Namdar have planned for the West 44th Street building, though the devaluation of the property marks yet another casualty in the post-pandemic office market as office vacancies and office-to-residential conversions continue to surge in Manhattan and beyond. New office properties, however, have been put on pause, and there’s potential for a shortage in Class A office space in the coming years. 

Anna Staropoli can be reached at astaropoli@commercialobserver.com.