NEW YORK CITY-Living up to a previously made promise, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced an agreement to sell two city-owned buildings, for nearly $250 million, as part of the administration's government plan to reduce city government office space by 1.2 million square feet by 2014. The Mayor first announced the intention to sell the properties—49-51 Chambers Street and 346 Broadway—in his 2012 state of the city address.
The Chetrit Group and the Peebles Corp. were selected to purchase 49-51 Chambers St. and 346 Broadway, respectively. Chetrit is set to purchase 49-51 Chambers Street for $89 million. Formerly the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, the building is slated to become residential and retail space, the city announced during a press conference.
Peebles will pay $160 million and is expected to convert the former New York Life Insurance Co. building into a mixed-use faciliity with residential, hotel, retail and community facility components. As a part of the agreement, Peebles will convert 16,000 square feet of 346 Broadway into a digital arts and media space for public use. A spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that specific plans for that media mecca are still being developed.
The agreements for the sale of the buildings, which will be presented to the Manhattan Borough Board for approval, will generate an estimated $120 million in net revenue for the city. In addition, the city will save approximately $120 million in operating expenses over the next two decades.
"These buildings have great bones and they will be restored to their historic grandeur, said Joey Koch, deputy commissioner and chief asset management officer of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
Added New York City Economic Development Corp. president Seth Pinsky, “With the sale and redevelopment of these historic buildings, they will not only be restored and put to better use, but they will also bring a significant economic and cultural impact to Lower Manhattan and the entire city.”
In the 1960s, the City acquired 49-51 Chambers Street and 346 Broadway as part of a larger plan to improve the Manhattan Civic Center that ultimately never came into fruition. Since then, the buildings have been primarily used as offices for City agencies.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
