Kevin Chisholm

There are plenty of deals to be had for Class B office buildings in the city — just ask Kevin Chisholm.

The founder of 60 Guilders was busy last year acquiring several of these properties at pretty steep discounts. There’s 292 Madison Avenue, which he partnered with Sentry Realty to pick up for around $90 million, half of the $180 million The Vanbarton Group bought it for in 2018. That was followed by the $80 million purchase of 1370 Broadway, also with Sentry, that was a nearly $100 million discount from what Invesco Real Estate paid for it in 2014.

Then, he partnered with American Exchange Group to purchase the $200 million note for 1375 Broadway to acquire ownership of the property from Savanna, which paid $435 million for the building in 2020.

Finally, he teamed again with Sentry to secure an equity stake in the office-to-residential conversion of Metro Loft’s 180 Water Street as part of a roughly $335 million recap.

“My personal view, with respect to New York City office and New York City multifamily, is I want to step up to the buffet and eat all I can eat,” Chisholm said. “I want to buy as much as possible.”

Chisholm often starts deals by acquiring the debt on the property. That also allows him to pre-lease properties — signing nine deals totaling 296,000 square feet before the closing date of his 2024 purchases — which helps him convince lenders to fund the purchase.

“Find a loan originator who’s super excited about getting up in front of his committee about making a loan on a B office building — how do you get that done? It’s not so easy,” he said. “I had to go out and find unique leasing opportunities because it’s going to help me finance the buildings and it’s going to give my investors a better return.”

Chisholm — who previously worked at Savanna — started 60 Guilders in 2013 with Bastien Broda (Broda left the company in 2023). Since then, 60 Guilders has bought 27 buildings and owns about 5.2 million square feet.

The company also aims to do as much in-house as possible, from building management to graphic design to construction management, where it’s currently overseeing about $60 million of work.