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Swiss Luxury Brand Buys 690 Madison From SL Green, Jeff Sutton: The N.Y. Deal Sheet

New York Deal Sheet

Another luxury retailer has purchased its Manhattan flagship.

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690 Madison Ave.

Swiss luxury fashion chain Richemont paid $54.5M for the 8K SF retail building at 690 Madison Ave., property records show. Richemont is the parent company of the property’s sole retail tenant, Van Cleef & Arpels.

A joint venture between SL Green and Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties sold the five-story building. Richemont CEO for the Americas Christopher Massoni signed on behalf of the buyer.

SL Green acquired the property in 2021 from Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. for $74M in a foreclosure sale. Wharton Properties acquired a 10% stake in the property for $34M three years later.

Eastdil Secured's Gary Phillips and Will Silverman brokered the deal.

The deal is the latest in a string of luxury retail tenants becoming owners of their longtime homes. Prada acquired its 68K SF Fifth Avenue flagship store for $425M in late 2023, and Gucci’s parent company, Kering, shelled out $963M for a 115K SF Fifth Avenue retail condo a few weeks later.

“The sale of 690 Madison Avenue underscores the continued trend of significant demand for flagship locations occupied by high-end retail users along Manhattan’s finest retail corridors,” SL Green Chief Investment Officer Harrison Sitomer said in a statement. “We’re proud to have positioned the asset to an owner that shares our long-term vision.”

Richemont did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TOP SALES

Zeta Charter Schools acquired a development site at 261 Walton Ave. from an undisclosed seller for $25.5M, according to a release. The seller was an LLC tied to Knickpoint Ventures and the New York City Housing Partnership, Commercial Observer reported. Zeta plans to build a 145K SF school on the site, Crain’s New York Business reported. Ariel Property Advisors’ Jason Gold, Victor Sozio and Gabriel Elyaszadeh represented the seller. 

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Bally’s closed on the 16-acre Throggs Neck parcel on which it plans to build a casino, Commercial Observer reported, citing property records. Bally’s paid $157M to the city of New York for 450 Hutchinson Parkway, which is part of Golf Links at Ferry Point. Bally’s was one of three bidders granted a casino license in December and plans to build a 500K SF facility on the site within a 3M SF complex that will include a hotel and an event center.

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Longacre Asset Management acquired 1220 Shakespeare Ave., 1187 Anderson Ave. and 1210 and 1230 Woodycrest Ave. in Highbridge from Morris Weinberg and Isaac Kassirer for $10.7M, Crain’s New York Business reported. The price is far below the $47.1M that Weinberg and Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group paid in 2017 for the four rent-stabilized Bronx properties.

TOP LEASES

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RXR's 1285 Sixth Ave., where Latham & Watkins expanded by 131K SF this week.

Latham & Watkins expanded by 131K SF at RXR’s 1285 Sixth Ave., bringing its total footprint to 251K SF, according to a release. The new lease is in addition to the law firm’s 435K SF offices at Rockefeller Group’s 1271 Sixth Ave., Commercial Observer reported. CBRE’s Scott Gamber, Craig Reicher and Emily Chabrier represented the tenant. William Elder and Daniel Birney represented RXR in-house alongside CBRE’s Robert Alexander, Ryan Alexander, Taylor Callaghan, Alexander Benisatto and Walter Graham as well as JLL’s Patrick Murphy.

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Data platform Snowflake signed for 83K SF at 7 Times Square, according to Colliers’ monthly office leasing report. The property is a 47-story, 1.25M SF full-block office tower owned by a joint venture between Norges Bank and BXP, the latter of which also manages the building. 

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Datasite signed for 76K SF at The Moinian Group’s 3 Columbus Circle, according to Colliers’ monthly office leasing report. Other tenants in the 751K SF office building include Nordstrom, Chase Bank and Columbia University.

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GFP Real Estate and BDT & MSD Partners signed two leases at 1540 Broadway totaling 74K SF. Pandora Jewelry doubled its space in a renewal and expansion totaling 56K SF and was represented by JLL’s Dan Posy. South Korea-based Woori Bank New York Agency is relocating from 245 Park Ave. to 19K SF at 1540 Broadway and was represented by Newmark’s Charles Han and Douglas Levine. JLL’s Clark Finney, Frank Doyle, Carlee Palmer and Michael Pallas and GFP’s Allen Gurevich represented the landlord.

TOP FINANCING

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61 Broadway, where RXR and One Investment Management landed a $420M construction loan for a residential conversion this week.

Apollo Global Management provided a $420M construction loan to RXR and One Investment Management for 61 Broadway, which the duo is converting into a 796-unit multifamily tower. Construction will begin this month, with the first half of the units expected to be delivered in the first half of 2028. JPMorgan is providing a $55M tax equity investment, and project capitalization also includes $420M of construction financing from Apollo affiliates.

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Wells Fargo originated a three-year, $450M CMBS loan for Global Holdings’ 39-story 1250 Broadway, Commercial Observer reported. Eastdil Secured’s Grant Frankel, Rob Turner and Ethan Pond arranged the financing.

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U.S. Bancorp loaned Amstar Group $71M in acquisition financing for its $129M purchase of 515 W. 38th St., a 33-story, 225-unit apartment tower in Hudson Yards with a 421-a tax abatement, from a joint venture of Shorenstein Investment Advisers and Dreamscape Cos. JLL Capital Markets’ Geoff Goldstein and Christopher Pratt arranged the financing, while the firm’s Rob Hinckley, Jeffrey Julien, Steven Binswanger, Steven Rutman and Devon Warren arranged the sale. 

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An entity owned by Artifact and Ashok Khubani refinanced a Washington Heights development site at 636-646 W. 158th St. with $85.5M from Genesis Capital, PincusCo reported. Artifact submitted plans to build a 120-unit, 119K SF property on the site in 2021. The loan replaces a $59M sum from the same lender.