609 Greenwich Trades in 1031 Exchange

NEW YORK CITY-After what a broker involved in the deal called a “long, tortuous process,” 609 Greenwich St. traded in a 1031 exchange worth $23 million.Eastern Consolidated Properties senior director Eric Anton tells GlobeSt.com that the site was on the market for more than 18 months.

“I took dozens of people through it,” he explains. Those interested in the 150,140-sf office had a number of obstacles to overcome. First, the building was only 70% occupied. “A lot of investors were nervous about the market,” Anton notes. Then, there were investors interested in the site for a possible residential conversion. “But there were existing tenants so you couldn’t do the project for a number of years,” he adds. And then the fatal blow to any possible residential conversion was handed down when the city announced changes to its zoning code for the area. “It fell out of the residential zone,” Anton says.

However, when a viable deal came down the pike, the deal was completed in a matter of weeks. Anton and fellow senior director Ron Solarz, working with financial analyst Paul Nigido, served as the exclusive brokers on the deal for the fee simple interest in the nine-story site. The building is located at the corner of Leroy Street in the Hudson Square Office District of Lower Manhattan, which, Anton points out, is rapidly becoming a mixed-use residential/office district.