Williams Equities’ 79 Madison Avenue Up for Sale, Pitched as Luxury Condo Conversion
Pricing talk is around $130 million, sources said.
By Cathy Cunningham March 4, 2025 2:44 pm
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Williams Equities’ office property at 79 Madison Avenue just hit the market, Commercial Observer has learned.
Eastdil Secured’s Will Silverman, Gary Phillips, Jeff Organisciak and Max Kamin are marketing the property, which is being offered as a luxury condominium conversion play — the building being an ideal candidate due to its large windows, high ceilings and ample floorplates.
Pricing talk is around $130 million, sources familiar with the asset said.
The 278,000-square-foot, 17-story Art Deco building sits on the corner of 28th Street in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood. While the office-to-resi conversion wave is busy sweeping Manhattan, 79 Madison Avenue has the potential to be one of the first in its neighborhood, with its new owner having the chance to deliver luxury condos in a high barrier-to-entry location, according to an offering memorandum (OM) viewed by CO.
Built in 1925, 79 Madison Avenue includes a 15,000-square-foot retail component, leased to furniture store Blu Dot. The building’s largest office tenant today is WeWork, which signed a 15-year lease for 108,000 square feet in 2014. Sources said there is an option for a new owner to terminate that lease early.
The building sits in a pretty ideal spot for potential future residents, surrounded by shopping, restaurants and nightlife, opposite a Whole Foods store and just two blocks north of Madison Square Park — which 79 Madison boasts views of. If converted, its proposed height is 19 stories, per the OM.
Elsewhere on Madison Avenue, Sunlight Development and NuVerse are moving forward with the conversion of their office building at 95 Madison Avenue into luxury condos with some construction financing from BHI, The Real Deal reported.
While Williams Equities is exiting this particular investment, it recently made another in 888 Broadway, joining the partnership as an equity partner and contributing its fee title in 38 East 19th Street, an annex that is connected to the property, to partners Cannon Hill and Global Holdings.
Williams Equities and Eastdil did not return requests for comment.
Cathy Cunningham can be reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com
