SoJo Spa Owner Buys Office and Retail Building at 893 Broadway for $31M

The owner of the SoJo Spa Club has purchased 893 Broadway in Manhattan’s Flatiron District for $31 million, according to property records made public Wednesday.

A deed transfer filed with the city indicated that Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm RCLCO Fund Advisors and L3 Capital, using the LLC Cholla 893, sold the property to SoJo Spa Club owner Eun Rae Jo, who used the entity 893 Jobway in the deal. 

The deal comes after RCLCO and L3 Capital bought the five-story property for $26.5 million in May 2015. The owner of the Korean luxury spa in Edgewater, N.J., secured a $20 million loan from Bank of Hope for the acquisition.

Maria Breland signed the deed for the sellers, while Hyun Jun An, an investor and partner working alongside Jo, signed for the buyer in mortgage documents, according to records.

Chris Peterson, Joe Mastromonaco and Evan Clements of Atlantic Retail represented the seller in the deal.

Last week, it was revealed that Jo had also acquired 16 East 18th Street from Revere Capital for $16.3 million, Crain’s New York Business reported.

It’s unclear whether Jo plans to bring his Korean luxury spas to the Flatiron District properties, but he’s also an active real estate investor in New York City, according to Crain’s. Mattress store Saatva is a current retail tenant at the base of 893 Broadway.

The Ziv, Gottlieb, Bernstein Team at Douglas Elliman, which includes Noam Gottlieb, Sahar Ziv and Shai Bernstein, brokered the deal on behalf of the buyer for 893 Broadway.

The brokerage team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said in a post on Instagram that the deal is one of their first forays out of residential real estate and into the commercial space.

Jun An could not be reached for comment.

The sellers bought the building between East 19th and East 20th streets as a hotel and converted it into a mixed-use retail and office property. Renovations included a restoration of its 19th-century cast-iron facade, as well as the addition of a penthouse and two outdoor terraces, according to L3 Capital.

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