Tishman Speyer Buys 148 Lafayette for $106M

Tishman Speyer has closed on its first Manhattan office acquisition since before the pandemic, dropping $105.5 million to purchase 148 Lafayette Street, Commercial Observer has learned.

Rob Speyer’s firm acquired the 12-story SoHo building from Epic less than two months after it was reportedly in talks to buy the property for around $120 million, according to the company.

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies provided a $68.3 million acquisition loan for Tishman’s purchase of the property, according to the developer. The $105.5 million price represents a slight loss from the $126.5 million Epic paid for the 153,000-square-foot building in 2012. 

Aside from it being Tishman’s first office purchase in Manhattan since 2019, it’s also the landlord’s first office asset purchase in the United States since 2021.

“148 Lafayette presented us with a compelling opportunity to capitalize on the strengthening New York City office leasing environment by acquiring a top-quality, boutique asset in one of the city’s most dynamic neighborhoods,” Albert Schmool, managing director at Tishman Speyer, said in a statement. “This acquisition represents the perfect addition to an office portfolio defined by highly amenitized, best-in-class environments in the world’s most sought-after locations.” 

The deal comes after the SoHo neighborhood saw a boost in investment sales in 2024 as its retail market boomed, with the deals continuing in 2025.

And Tishman isn’t the only buyer coming back into the market for Manhattan office buildings. Blackstone recently bought a 49 percent stake in 1345 Avenue of the Americas, the first time the asset manager spent money on a Manhattan office property in nearly three years. Blackstone secured an $850 million commercial mortgage-backed securities financing for the purchase last month.

Newmark arranged the sale of 148 Lafayette with a team led by Adam Spies and Avery Silverstein. 

In March venture capital firm General Catalyst inked a 42,535-square-foot deal in the 1913-built property, which is also home to cosmetics firm Charlotte Tilbury. Ground-floor retail is fully occupied by boxing gym Five Points Academy and clothing store 260 Sample. 

Representatives at Epic and Newmark did not immediately return requests for comment. Blackstone declined to comment. 

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