SITQ Pays $101 Mil for 50% Stake in 498 Seventh Ave.

NEW YORK CITY-Canadian real estate investment firm SITQ Immobilier has purchased a 50% stake in 498 Seventh Ave. The seller is locally based Northstar Capital Investment Corp., which received $101 million for its half of the 25-story office tower.

The remaining interest in the building, located between 36th and 37th streets, will stay in the hands of George Comfort & Sons and Loeb Partners Realty. The three partners bought the building from the Helmsley portfolio in 1998 for about $45 million. According to George Comfort president Peter Duncan, the asset is roughly 95% leased and the change in ownership partners will not affect plans for the recently renovated building going forward.

“We are planning on holding [the asset] long term with our new partner,” Duncan tells GlobeSt.com. “This was the decision [Northstar] came to and we worked with them to accommodate their feelings.” Duncan adds that the partners “started repositioning the building 1n 1997″ and performed “significant renovations in 1999 and 2000.”