Bobby Zar Snaps Up 827 Broadway for $19M Via Short Sale

There’s a changing of the guard in Greenwich Village. 

Bobby Zar’s ZG Capital Partners has snapped up the interconnected buildings at 827-831 Broadway, plus 47 East 12th Street, for $18.5 million via a short sale, sources told Commercial Observer.  

Newmark’s Brett Siegel, Maurice Suede and Adam Spies negotiated the lender-directed sale on behalf of the seller, while ZG Capital’s Zar and James Tamborlane led the transaction in-house. 

The buildings, which sit at the eastern edge of Greenwich Village just south of Union Square, sold for less than a third of the price they traded for just over a decade ago, representing a steep haircut. 

Quality Capital and Caerus purchased the four-story buildings in 2015 for $60 million, with plans to bring a 300-foot, 14-story office and retail building to the address, The Real Deal reported at the time. The plan was to demolish the existing cast-iron structures and build 11 stories of office floors atop three stories of retail. In May 2017, the borrowers recapitalized their investment, taking a $59 million loan from LoanCore Capital. 

However, in October 2017, following a campaign led by Village Preservation that fought for landmark designation, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission put a stop to the developers’ plans, granting landmark status to 827-831 Broadway and preventing the buildings’ demolition due to their significant cultural and historical significance. (The 12th Street building was not designated.) 

Indeed, the buildings have quite the rich history. In the 19th century, the Broadway buildings were home to the Wilson Sewing Machine Company as well as A.A. Vantine, the first importer of Japanese arts into the U.S. In the 1950s and 1960s, the top floors of the Griffith Thomas-designed, Italianate structures served as studios for prominent artists such as abstract expressionist artist Willem de Kooning, who painted his famous “Pastorale” at 831 Broadway in 1963. 

It wasn’t immediately clear what the plans are for the buildings under their new ownership, and ZG Capital didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

In 2021, Zar also snapped up the property directly across the street at 836 Broadway, in a deal also led by Newmark’s Siegel. Zar has since fully leased that building — which once housed New York University — with rents north of $100 per square foot, sources said. 

LoanCore and Newmark didn’t immediately return requests for comment. Quality Capital couldn’t be reached for comment. 

Cathy Cunningham can be reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com.