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As New York City’s office market begins to strain under an impending wave of distress, an opportunistic buyer has scored a loan to cover two acquisitions in Midtown Manhattan.
Namdar Realty Group received a $111.2M loan from Israeli firm Reznik Paz Nevo Trusts to cover two purchases, made with separate partners and sitting four blocks apart, PincusCo first reported.
The opportunistic buyer has been seeking out distressed NYC office properties for the last year, and as of June, it had one: Silverstein Properties’ 529 Fifth Ave., a 1958-built, 20-story office tower.
Silverstein had been in contract to sell 529 Fifth Ave. — which spans 254K SF and was last renovated in 2016 — for $105M to Empire Capital since this spring, Commercial Observer reported at the time.
But that sale didn’t close until June, when Empire Capital and Namdar announced they had partnered to purchase the building. Together, they shelled out $107.6M for 529 Fifth Ave., and they have now secured a loan to back it.
The $111.2M sum covers both 529 Fifth Ave. and 587 Fifth Ave., a nearby property where Empire Capital transferred the deed to a shell company in 2002, according to public records. But PincusCo reports that 587 Fifth Ave. is now owned by Namdar and Mason Asset Management, after the pair bought the ground leasehold together in January for $14.6M.
Namdar Realty Group is named after its founder, Igdal Namdar, who made a name for himself and roughly $2B in personal wealth buying up struggling malls a decade ago. And last September, office assets caught his eye.
Namdar and Empire bought 830 Third Ave., a 13-story, 64-year-old office, for $72M last September, as well as a 24-story building more than 90 years old at 345 Seventh Ave. for $107M a year before that.
“New York City’s hitting a rough patch now, but we believe long-term, people are not going to work at home,” Namdar told Bloomberg when it bought 830 Third. “Once everything is settled and, hopefully, the economy gets better, you’re going to see a lot more companies come back and rent space.”
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