Catholic Church Sells 455 Madison Ground Lease to Pay Victims of Clergy Abuse

The Archdiocese of New York is selling 455 Madison Avenue’s ground lease to its hotel-operating tenant to balance the books after agreeing to pay settlements to victims of sexual abuse, Commercial Observer has learned.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan notified parishioners Dec. 8 that the archdiocese would take further action to compensate victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members by selling real estate assets, stating that the scandal “has brought shame upon our Church.”

The sale of the ground lease at 455 Madison to hotel operator Lotte New York Palace would generate $490 million for a $200 million disbursement to the Church’s 2016 Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. The $290 million balance is slated to go toward the repayment of loans the church took out for clergy abuse settlements already paid out, according to the archdiocese.

“The Archdiocese of New York has been working with victim-survivors and their attorneys on a global settlement, a negotiated agreement to secure compensation for victim-survivors with the help of a neutral third-party mediator,” an archdiocese spokesperson said in a statement. “Throughout, our goal has been to provide the maximum amount of compensation to the maximum number of victims, and the sale of this land is our latest effort to generate funds that can be used for that purpose.”

Lotte has owned the building at 455 Madison since 2015, and the sale of the ground lease now awaits court approval from the New York State Supreme Court, according to a spokesperson for the archdiocese.

“The acquisition of the land beneath Lotte New York Palace marks a pivotal milestone in advancing our global business and elevating our brand value,” a spokesperson for Lotte said in a statement. “With this solidified foundation, we are committed to establishing Lotte as a leading global hotel brand.”

The archdiocese has been making the most of its Manhattan portfolio in recent years. In July, it finalized the sale of its former headquarters at 1011 First Avenue to Vanbarton Group for $103 million. Vanbarton plans to convert the office tower to residential. The sale followed the archdiocese consolidating its administrative offices at 488 Madison Avenue.

The sale of 1011 First Avenue could potentially be contributed to the payment of the global settlement, according to an archdiocese spokesperson.

In January, it sold three adjacent Chelsea properties at 331-341 West 25th Street to Timber Equities for $48 million and, in June 2024, it offloaded the vacant lot at 181 Avenue D in the East Village to Spatial Equity and nonprofit developer Community Access for somewhere between between $58 million and $68 million. The buyers plan to build a 570-unit multifamily building there.

And, near the end of 2023, the Catholic Church reached a deal with Ken Griffin, Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin to sell 525,000 square feet of air rights over St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue for $164 million.

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