Werner Makes First Traditional Office Play With $270M Buy of One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza

David Werner, who has been on a shopping spree converting office properties to residential use, is now targeting a traditional office play at a steep discount.

The investor is nearing a purchase of One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza tower for $270 million from Rockpoint Group in a deal slated to close early next year, sources familiar with the transaction told Commercial Observer. The sale is less than half of what Rockpoint Group paid for the 50-story Midtown East building in 2019, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the transaction Wednesday.

Newmark arranged the sale of the 870,000-square-foot building with a team led by Adam Spies, Adam Doneger, Josh King, Marcella Fasulo and Willis Robbins.

Representatives for Werner, Rockpoint Group and Newmark did not immediately return requests for comment.

Financing for the office purchase has not been finalized yet, but sources said Werner is seeking a 65 percent loan-to-value deal, and Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub and Nick Scribani have the mandate

Sources said other finalists in the bidder group included private equity firms and high-net-worth foreign individuals

The deal will mark the first straight office acquisition for Werner, who has been focusing on office-to-resi transformations in partnership with Metro Loft Management in Manhattan including at nearby buildings 205 East 42nd Street. 675 Third Avenue and 235 East 42nd Street, along with 100 Wall Street. 

The One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza purchase is being made in response to office-to-residential conversions taking place on nearby Third Avenue that are pushing demand from tenants who lost leases to seek other quality buildings on Second Avenue instead, according to sources. 

Rockpoint will stay on to manage the property as part of the transaction, sources said. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.