A historic 300K SF office property in Manhattan’s Midtown South submarket has changed hands for almost $100M less than it sold for in 2018.
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Williams Equities has acquired 470 Park Ave. S. for $147.5M, it announced in a press release. Jamestown, which was an investor with Williams Equities, will retain its role as a limited partner at the property, which is also known as the Silk Building.
The sellers, SJP Properties and PGIM Real Estate, shelled out $245M to buy the building two years before the pandemic.
The buyer appears to have approached the deal with the view that the price of owning an office building in New York City may be as low as it’s going to go.
“As an ownership group that takes long-term positions, we see a window of opportunity right now to make investments that will position us well as we head into the next cycle and beyond,” Michael Cohen, a third-generation principal at Williams Equities, said in a statement.
Cohen is also the president of the Tri-State region for Colliers. Williams Equities, founded nearly a century ago by Victor Cohen, sees its acquisition of 470 Park Ave. S. as “part of a larger program” as the firm seeks to become “stewards of architectural gems in Midtown South.” The firm also owns 136 Madison Ave., plus 28 and 40 W. 23rd St.
Its latest acquisition, with a cast-iron clock that shows a wizard calling upon the “Queen of Silk,” is no exception. The building features prewar architecture, two loft-style office towers and has received upgrades in its lifetime to offer tenants modernized systems and interiors. The buyer intends to make further capital improvements.
Williams Equities’ Cohen, Andrew Roos and Robert Getre, the firm’s general counsel William Stempel, and Colliers’ Jessica Verdi and Mac Roos assisted in negotiations and underwriting for 470 Park Ave. S. Eastdil Secured’s Will Silverman brokered the deal on behalf of SJP Properties and PGIM Real Estate.
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