Block Front Sells for $118M

NEW YORK CITY-In an all-cash transaction of $117.5 million, a local investment group has taken title to an entire block front on the west side of Avenue of the Americas between West 30th and West 31st streets. The buildings sold for approximately $352.07 per buildable sf.

Massey Knakal chairman Robert Knakal tells GlobeSt.com that the firm, which was the only broker on the deal, first represented the Lavin family in a proposed sale of one of the properties, which was vacant at the time. “We had a deal for $25 million that snowballed.” Members of the Bernstein family, who had owned the adjoining properties for 60 years, were first persuaded to trade in air rights, he explains. The numbers were so high that the entire site was put on the block.

He notes that there were 37 offers on the site. “It was a year-and-a-half process. It went from $250 per buildable sf to $310 to the current price. The numbers were so compelling.” Included in the sale were a six-story commercial office building at 855-857 Ave. of the Americas; three adjacent four-story commercial buildings at 859-865 Ave. of the Americas; a four-story commercial building at 867-873 Ave. of the Americas and a parking lot at 106-108 West 31st St.