Premier Equities Buys Retail Condo at 200 East 59th Street for $31M

Premier Equities has acquired the retail condominium at the bottom of a 68-unit luxury residential tower in Midtown East, according to city records made public Friday.

Premier, through the entity Premier 200 East 59th Street, purchased the retail portion of the 35-story building at 200 East 59th Street for $31.3 million from Alpha Investment Partners, the real estate investment arm of Singapore-based asset manager Keppel Capital, records show.

Yaron Jacobi, a founding partner of Premier, signed for the buyer while Tai Wai Kit signed for the seller, which used the entity MIPA 59/Third Owner, according to records.

CBRE‘s Gary Trock, Daniel Kaplan and Justin Arzi brokered the deal. CBRE declined to comment, while spokespeople for Premier and Keppel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alpha bought previous owner Harry Macklowe’s stake in the residential tower, which was valued at $4.8 million, in November 2019, The Real Deal reported.

Macklowe had struggled to sell out the units in the building since sales launched in 2017, finding buyers for only seven of the 68 apartments, according to TRD.

But the tower received a lifeline in June 2020 when Singapore’s United Overseas Bank issued a $204 million condo inventory loan for the 61 unsold residences, an 18,000-square-foot commercial unit and 981 Third Avenue down the street, TRD reported.

Currently, prices for the available apartments at the building at the corner of Third Avenue and East 59th Street range from $1.7 million for a one-bedroom to $42.5 million for a four-bedroom, according to its website.

It’s unclear what Premier’s exact plans are for the retail property, but the firm also recently bought a retail building in Flushing, Queens, from Riesenburger Properties for $27 million, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

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