Empire Capital to Buy Park Avenue South Office Buildings for $130M

Empire Capital Holdings is lined up to buy a pair of office buildings on Park Avenue South for $130 million.

Empire Capital is set to purchase the 12-story 373 Park Avenue South and the 17-story 381 Park Avenue South in Kips Bay from ATCO Properties, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. The Real Deal first reported the news.

Newmark’s Adam Spies, Adam Doneger and Meaghan Philbin handled the deal. 

Newmark declined to comment, while Empire Capital founding partner Josh Rahmani and a spokesperson for ATCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ATCO bought the two buildings between East 26th and East 27th streets — which cover a total of 338,000 square feet — in 2006 for an undisclosed amount, property records show.

Current tenants at 373 Park Avenue South include sports betting firm Simplebet and Mount Sinai Health System. Literary scout Maria B. Campbell Associates, children’s book publisher Lee & Low Books and gold dealer Sepp Leaf Products occupy 381 Park Avenue South.

News of the deal comes after other recent purchases for Empire Capital, which has a track record of going after distressed properties.

In March, Empire Capital acquired two office buildings at 229 West 36th Street and 256 West 38th Street for just over $50 million, a steep discount from Investcorp’s $157 million purchase in 2017, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

And in September, the firm bought an office property in Hell’s Kitchen at 321 West 44th Street for $40.5 million, down from the $153 million Related Fund Management paid for it in 2018, according to TRD.

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