Price Revealed for Amazon’s Purchase of 522 Fifth Avenue as $456M

Amazon didn’t exactly get a “Prime Day” deal for its purchase of 522 Fifth Avenue, but instead paid a roughly $100 million premium for the office ​​building.

The mysterious price for Amazon’s purchase of the 23-story Midtown office building from Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’s RFR was revealed to be roughly $456 million, according to a market source.

Only $340 million of the purchase hit property records on Friday, but the source said Amazon bought the roughly 570,000-square-foot building for $800 per square foot, bringing the total purchase price to roughly $456 million.

The price is a large jump from the $350 million RFR paid to acquire the building from Morgan Stanley in 2020, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

Richard Froom, associate general counsel at RFR, signed for the seller, which used the entity 522 Fifth Office, while Shannon Loew, head of global real estate at Amazon, signed for the buyer, which used the entity Amazon.com Services, records show.

RFR declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sources said there was no broker involved and Rosen negotiated the deal himself. 

The news comes after RFR announced last week it sold the building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 44th Street to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed amount, as CO previously reported. City records now confirm the buyer.

“We’ve always had a sharp eye for architecturally significant assets that stand the test of time,” Rosen said in a statement last week. “This sale speaks not only to the enduring appeal of the building, but to the strength of the Grand Central corridor and the growing demand for distinctive, high-quality opportunities in New York.”

And this isn’t Amazon’s first office deal in New York City lately, especially after announcing its push to get its workers back in the office full time.

In just the last two months, the e-commerce giant signed massive leases for 330,000 square feet at 10 Bryant Park and 193,000 square feet at 237 Park Avenue.

Plus, Amazon is no stranger to buying Manhattan office properties. In 2020, Amazon dropped $1.14 billion to buy the former Lord & Taylor flagship at 424 Fifth Avenue to open a 2,000-person office.

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