Fifth Avenue may have recently lost its distinction as the world’s most expensive shopping street, but that doesn’t mean deep-pocketed retailers are giving up on the storied thoroughfare.
Case in point: Luxury conglomerate Kering (owners of well-heeled brands like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent) cinched New York City’s top investment sale of 2024 with its $963 million purchase of 717 Fifth Avenue.
SEE ALSO: The 10 Biggest New York City Office Leases of 2024
That might’ve been the only Fifth Avenue deal to crack the top 10 this year, but it’s far from the only sale on the shopping street as retailers clamor to drop cash to own their own piece of Fifth.
And, while Kering’s deal came just shy of the billion-dollar mark — marking the second year in a row the city hasn’t seen one of those $1B sales — 2024 shouldn’t be forgotten as soon as the ball drops.
There was a mix of deals making the top 10, including Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $560 million purchase of 980 Madison Avenue; Mori Building buying an 11 percent stake in One Vanderbilt at a whopping $4.7 billion valuation; and J.P. Morgan Chase and Hines spending $320 million for the office building at 250 Park Avenue.
And SL Green Realty will become a familiar name to readers of this list, as it had a hand as the seller in three of the year’s top deals.
While the final numbers are still being tallied, 2024 looks to be a decent year overall for investment sales in New York City, with Colliers estimating dollar volume will jump 76 percent year-over-year in Manhattan alone and the number of transactions there will grow 16 percent in that same time.
And who knows? We could still see a giant billion-dollar sale cross the finish line before the new year comes. Either way, here are the top 10 investment sales of a single asset in New York City, as reported by CBRE (CBRE), Cushman & Wakefield and JLL (JLL), and checked against news reports. The names of the brokers who worked on them are listed where available.
717 Fifth Avenue
$963 million
It’s safe to say that Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties had not one but two good years. In December 2023, Sutton sold 724 Fifth Avenue to Prada for $425 million, along with 720 Fifth Avenue for $410 million. Then in January it sold the 115,000-square-foot retail portion of 715-717 Fifth Avenue, which it owned with SL Green Realty, for $963 million to Kering.
That’s about $1.8 billion on three properties in a matter of weeks. Couldn’t ask for a better way to start 2024, especially since Sutton had been battling it out with lender New York Life Insurance Company, which had been trying to foreclose on 717 Fifth.
Sutton bought the property in 2004 and SL Green joined in 2006, eventually dropping to a 10.9 percent stake in 2012.
Eastdil Secured’s Will Silverman and Gary Phillips brokered the deal for SL Green and Wharton.
625 Madison Avenue
$635 million
SL Green is already back, this time selling off its 17-story office building at 625 Madison Avenue to Related Companies for $635 million.
While the deal made headlines in December 2023, it didn’t officially close until the first quarter of the year, securing its spot on the 2024 list.
The deal capped a prolonged battle between SL Green and Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, which bought the ground lease in 2013 but later lost control to SL Green. Related has big plans for the site: demolishing the current structure to build a 1,200-foot-tall skyscraper with luxury condominiums, retail and maybe a hotel in its wake.
It’s also something of a homecoming for Related, which used to have an office in the building, the New York Post reported.
980 Madison Avenue
$560 million
Moving uptown on Madison Avenue for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $560 million purchase of the Upper East Side home of the Gagosian Gallery at 980 Madison Avenue from seller RFR Holding.
The former mayor plans to use the building for his family office and was already planning to take a portion of the property before deciding to buy it outright.
Bloomberg Philanthropies signed a lease for 115,824 square feet in the property last year, which it would’ve taken over from Gagosian — which first took space in the building in 1987 — once its lease expired in April 2025. However, Bloomberg decided to change course and buy out the building instead.
A source with knowledge of the deal previously told Commercial Observer there were no brokers involved.
One Vanderbilt
$490 million
SL Green is back on the list for the third (and final) time with its sale of an 11 percent stake in One Vanderbilt in a deal that valued the tower at $4.7 billion.
Tokyo-based Mori Building Company (not to be confused with the similarly named Mori Trust, which bought a stake in SL Green’s 245 Park Avenue last year) picked up one-ninth of the 73-story skyscraper, and SL Green will still retain majority control of the property.
SL Green opened One Vanderbilt during the height of the pandemic, when everybody questioned if in-office work would ever return in force, but it has been proving naysayers wrong since.
Aside from the huge valuation in the deal, One Vanderbilt reached full occupancy in September when UnitedHealthcare signed on for 6,000 square feet.
That deal had an asking rent of $265 per square foot, likely giving it the distinction of one of the most expensive office leases in New York City history.
250 Park Avenue
$310 million
J.P. Morgan Chase upped its presence on Park Avenue by partnering with Hines to buy AEW Capital’s 250 Park Avenue for $310 million.
The 20-story office building sits near J.P. Morgan’s currently under-construction new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, and the bank has been in talks to pick up the property since the summer.
In 2021, AEW renovated the property for the first time since the 1990s, ditching the reception desk and adding an LED video art installation to make the space feel bigger. Tenants include IWG’s brand Signature and legal services firm Complete Discovery Source.
Newmark’s Adam Spies and Doug Harmon brokered the sale for the seller.
180 Maiden Lane
$297 million
Canadian biotech entrepreneur Carlo Bellini increased his New York City real estate holdings in July when he spent $297 million for 180 Maiden Lane.
His real estate firm, 99c, bought the 41-story office tower from Clarion Partners and MHP Real Estate at a nearly $110 million loss from the $407 million Clarion and MHP picked it up for in 2015.
The former owners were facing foreclosure on a $372 million loan package they secured in 2020, and instead put the property on the market in January as a short sale.
As of July, the 1.2 million-square-foot tower was 68 percent occupied with tenants including debt consolidator National Debt Relief and nonprofit City Year.
Eastdil’s Gary Phillips and Will Silverman brokered the deal for the sellers.
200 West 67th Street
$265 million
The only multifamily sale to land in the top 10 was the 43-story glass skyscraper at 200 West 67th Street, also known as Aire.
A&R Kalimian, which developed the tower in 2013, sold the property to the Gotham Organization and the Carlyle Group for $265 million after facing some distress on its $196 million mortgage.
The Kalimian family had struggled to keep up with its mortgage payments since 2017, then saw occupancy in the 310-unit building drop to 70 percent in 2020. The loan was sent to special servicing in June 2023 and, despite the property reaching 97 percent leased that same month, the Kalimians were unable to square away new financing when the loan came due last November.
CBRE’s Alana Bassen and Darcy Stacom, both of whom later left CBRE, brokered the sale for the seller.
799 Broadway
$255 million
Coming in at the eighth spot is another office property that sold at a loss compared with its previous trade, but this time only a small 4 percent one.
Savanna spent $255 million to buy Columbia Property Trust and Cannon Hill’s trophy office property at 799 Broadway. The sale was directed by lender Blackstone Mortgage Trust, which provided the $266 million debt on the 177,000-square-foot property.
The building stood 70 percent leased as of November to tenants including Wellington Management and Bain Capital Ventures.
Eastdil’s Gary Phillips and Will Silverman brokered the sale for the sellers.
1414 Avenue of the Americas
$234 million
And now for something completely different: a hotel that sold for a profit.
Host Hotels & Resorts picked up the hotel at 1414 Avenue of the Americas, currently under Barry Sternlicht’s 1 Hotel Central Park brand, from Starwood Capital for $234 million. That’s a handsome profit from the $72 million Sternlicht’s Starwood bought the hotel for in 2011.
It has 229 rooms, and was branded 1 Hotel Central Park in 2015. Host Hotels secured a $150 million loan for the purchase.
1740 Broadway
$186 million
Last but not least, Yellowstone Real Estate snapped up 1740 Broadway by picking up the defaulted commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan tied to it from Blackstone for $186 million.
The sale of the office property adds to the Issac Hera-run Yellowstone’s growing list of turnaround deals, including when it purchased the $106 million defaulted note on the famed New Yorker Hotel in September.
Blackstone acquired the 620,928-square-foot 1740 Broadway in late 2014 for $605 million but handed back the keys in 2022 after it defaulted on a connected $308 million CMBS loan. The building has spent almost 75 years hosting office tenants, but sources previously told CO that Yellowstone was considering turning it residential.
JLL’s Steven Binswanger, Andrew Scandalios, Jennifer Zelko, Drew Isaacson and David Giancola brokered the note sale on 1740 Broadway.
