Clarett Group, Prudential Complete $146M Buy

NEW YORK CITY-The joint venture with locally based the Clarett Group and Prudential Real Estate Investors has closed on its purchase of 180 Madison Ave. from Sitt Asset Management. The duo purchased the 274,000-sf office building for $146 million.

CB Richard Ellis has been hired to manage the leasing of the building. Adam Spies and Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured LLC managed the marketing on behalf of the seller. As GlobeSt.com previously reported, four years ago, Harmon also handled the firm’s $92.7-million or $350 per sf purchase of the same building from SL Green Realty Corp. and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund III LP. The JV purchased the property in December 2000 for $41.2 million.

The property, built in 1927, stands 23 stories tall and is located on the southwest corner of Madison Avenue and East 34th Street. In addition its highly visible location, it is within walking distance of both Grand Central & Penn Stations has access to 12 subway lines. The property offers full-floor layouts ranging in size from 8,000 to 15,000 sf. Clarett plans to further improve the asset through a strategic renovation plan. Further Queries to the Clarett Group were unanswered by deadline, however a Clarett source did tell GlobeSt.com that the property was first put on the market in June 2007.