Pyrus Management Acquires Midtown Office Building for $22M

Pyrus Management has purchased a Midtown office building for $21.5 million, according to city records made public Monday.

Pyrus, through the entity Left to Write, bought 15 West 36th Street from Walter & Samuels, which used the entity Daval 36 Associates, records show. Attorney Jay Kim signed for the buyer, while David Berley, chairman at Walter & Samuels, signed for the seller.

Avison Young’s Charles Kingsley, Eric Karmitz and Erik Edeen brokered the deal for the seller, according to the brokerage. It’s unclear who represented the buyer.

Spokespeople for Pyrus and Walter & Samuels did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Crain’s New York Business first reported the news.

Walter & Samuels first became involved with the Midtown property in the 1980s, according to the New York Business Journal.

The 16-story building may be converted into residential units if Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan is passed this week, as the property’s location would permit conversions, the Journal reported.

However, the exact plans for the building are still unclear, according to Avison Young.

“City of Yes and other rezoning proposals will unlock this ability to convert to residential use but as of now, there are no plans we’re aware of for conversion as the asset continues to draw office tenants,” Karmitz said in a statement.

Current office tenants at the building between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas are talent agency Universal Attractions and lender Arsenal Funding, as well as camera store 42nd Street Photo in retail space below.

Regardless of the plans for the building, the manager of the 126-year-old 42nd Street Photo, which relocated to the spot in 2020, told Crain’s it hopes to stay put.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.