NEW YORK CITY—A landmark property in Downtown Brooklyn has traded hands. The Dime Savings Bank of New York building at 9 DeKalb Ave. was sold for $90 million.
Originally built in the mid-1850s, the five-story iconic structure features approximately 70,000 gross square feet with about 315,000 square feet of transferable development rights. The air rights can be put to use at a neighboring development site or used to build out the site to roughly 450,000 square feet.
Previously, the property operated as a bank, with offices on top, but it was delivered vacant upon sale. The seller was represented by Herrick, Feinstein. The property was purchased by JDS Development and The Chetrit Group with the counsel of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman and the assistance of Sukenik, Segal & Graff, who represented the borrower.
The residential market in the Downtown Brooklyn area has been driven by record low inventories and strong demand for available housing, notes Cushman & Wakefield, which also was on the deal. Luxury developments surrounding the Dime Bank location include 388 Bridge St. and Brooklyn Air. It also is around the corner from MetroTech Center, the New York City Fire Department headquarters, and offices for tenants including the Brooklyn Nets.
"Rarely does an iconic building like this become available," says Cushman & Wakefield's Robert Knakal, chairman, New York investment sales, who exclusively handled this transaction with James Nelson and Stephen Palmese. "The landmarked status of the property insures the asset will remain intact but the development rights will help the adjacent development become yet another iconic building for the city's skyline."
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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.
