NEW YORK CITY—Starwood Capital is under contract to purchase a well-known retail building on 34th street with future development potential for as much as $250 million, according to the Real Deal. The site on which the property sits could be redeveloped into a 300,000-square-foot retail and hotel tower, using unused air rights.
Located at 144-150 W. 34th St., opposite the flagship location of Macy's department store, the 78,000-square-foot building is occupied by retail tenant Old Navy, which has another six years on its lease.
The property has been owned for almost two decades by the Kefadilis family, which heads up KLM Construction company. Representatives of the company did not respond to a request for comment. Eastdil Secured senior managing directors Doug Harmon and Adam Spies represented both sides of the deal.
The sale represents a great get for Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital, Harmon tells GlobeSt.com. "It's becoming harder—and increasingly more expensive—to find a great piece of Manhattan real estate clay that can be molded into a few different attractive uses. This is truly a special piece."
Sternlicht, known for his luxury hotel investments, reportedly has been looking to sell off shares of Starwood through an initial public offering in order to raise funds and finance new businesses.
Starwood Capital is involved in luxury Manhattan residential projects like the Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York, which is in sales mode, and a 65-story rental at 252 E. 57th St., for which it issued a $450 million loan earlier this year. Representatives of the company did not return a request for comment.
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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.
