The space is located on the ground, cellar, and second-floor levels of UJA-Federation's headquarters building. The retail space is leased to Gap Inc., which next month will open new Banana Republic and Gap stores there to replace smaller stores that had been located at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue for more than 20 years.

"The current interest rate environment combined with high demand for retail properties, particularly in midtown Manhattan, makes this an excellent time to sell," says Morris. W. Offit, president of UJA-Federation. As part of the process of renovating the building the amount of space that was devoted to retail use. "By selling the retail space, which comprises less than 15 percent of the total building, we were able to monetize the most valuable part of the building, thereby diversifying our investments."

Proceeds from the sale will become part of UJA-Federation's endowment. The three-month process to determine the value of the retail space was conducted by Eastdil Realty, which approached over 900 domestic and international investment groups and conducted two rounds of bidding.