Massimo and Alberta Ferretti Sell 30 West 56th Street to PLT Energia Owner for $22.4M

Two Milanese families traded a Midtown office building dating to the Gilded Age for $22.4 million.

PLT Energia founder Pierluigi Tortora bought the property at 30 West 56th Street from luxury fashion brand owners and siblings Massimo and Alberta Ferretti, who made about a $19 million profit after purchasing it for $3.8 million in 1994, according to property records. PincusCo first reported the transaction.

The Ferrettis’ company, Ferrim USA, owned the property and used it as a showroom for the clothing brands they own under the umbrella Aeffe Group, behind clothing makers Moschino, Philosophy and Pollini.

Aeffe Group essentially leased the space from its parent company. A disclosure on Aeffe Group’s website states that its lease of the property was terminated May 27, around the same time that the deed changed hands between the two entities. The lease was set to terminate in September 2027, and the Ferrettis were paying an annual rent of $900,000.

The disclosure added that Aeffe Group is relocating and shrinking its footprint in the U.S. in order to focus on sales in Paris and Milan.

Aeffe transferred the deed to Ferrim in 2012 for $14 million after the latter financed the acquisition with a $10 million loan provided by Citibank, Commercial Observer reported at the time.

Now the founder of energy company PLT Energia — which is developing a photovoltaic pipeline in Texas — will take over the building and use it as offices, according to PincusCo.

PLT energia and Alberta Ferretti did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It’s unclear who brokered the deal.

The stately building dates to between 1899 and 1901 when it was designed as neo-French Renaissance townhouse by architect C.P.H. Gilbert for investment banker Henry Seligman.

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