Gary Phillips and Will Silverman

The past 12 months or so might have been one of the stalest stretches for investment sales, but it ended on a ridiculously high note with Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties selling $1.8 billion worth of buildings on Fifth Avenue to luxury retailers in a matter of days.

And the two brokers behind those deals? Eastdil Secured’s Will Silverman and Gary Phillips.

Wharton and partner SL Green Realty sold 724 Fifth Avenue to Prada for $425 million along with neighboring 720 Fifth Avenue for $410 million. Then, Kering, the parent company of Gucci, forked over $963 million for 715-717 Fifth Avenue. “These are companies that operate stores at these locations, they have perfect intelligence,” Silverman said. “It wasn’t as if somebody who has no idea what’s going on dumped a pile of money on the streets.”

In this market, those two deals inked around New Year’s would’ve been more than enough to celebrate, but it was far from the only ones the pair made. They brokered the sale of more than $3.5 billion of properties last year, only slightly less than in 2022, including New York University dropping $210 million for The Lanthian apartments at 377 East 33rd Street, Stonehenge NYC’s $115 million purchase of 408 East 92nd Street, and Vistria’s $174 million acquisition of a 1,290-unit portfolio in the Bronx.

“The most important thing that all of this says to the market is that New York is different and special and always will be,” Silverman said. “In moments of uncertainty, the one place that always outperforms is New York City.”

“We were happy, on a relative basis,” Phillips said about last year. “And 2023 was not a year that everybody wants to hang their hats on.”

And, with interest rates finally stabilizing and companies solidifying their remote-work policies, both Phillips and Silverman said better days are on the horizon for the investment sales market. The pair had $2.5 billion worth of deals in the pipeline as of April, and expect more to come as institutional investors re-enter the market.

“Our pipeline has never been more robust,” Phillips said.