Office Condos of Two Essex Crossing Buildings Sell for $222M

Taconic Partners has sold off the office condominium components of two buildings in its Essex Crossing portfolio for over $221.6 million.

The sale included 180 Broome Street for $113.7 million as well as 202 Broome Street for $107.9 million, according to deeds filed to property records. They were purchased by Deutsche Bank (DB), whose Thomas Vasile and Andrew Mullin signed for the deeds.

It’s unclear what Deutsche Bank’s plans for the office condos, if they plan to occupy them itself and relocate its offices from 1 Columbus Circle, or what the square footage is.

Representatives for Essex Crossing and Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taconic, L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, Goldman Sachs (GS)’ Urban Investment Group and The Prusik Group completed the buildings in the 2 million-square-foot development in 2021. Since then, the office component of Essex Crossing has struggled to attract tenants.

That year, Verizon signed a 143,000-square-foot office lease at 155 Delancey Street, with plans to relocate its operations from 140 West Street, which was a beacon of hope for the office market as the COVID-19 pandemic placed the industry in an unprecedented position.

But by December 2023, Verizon had some buyer’s remorse and placed the entire Essex Crossing footprint on the sublease market.

In recent months, the developer turned to building out prebuilt offices across two floors of the development’s 145 Delancey Street in an effort to draw more tenants.

The below-ground space at 155 Delancey has not fared much better. The 150,000-square-foot subterranean food court, known as the Market Line, closed for good from February to April 2024, Commercial Observer previously reported.

It seems the only tenant that has persisted in the development has been Vital Climbing Gym, which signed a lease for 45,000 square feet at 182 Broome Street in April 2023.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.