Former NYT Building Retail Seized From Kushner Sells For 6% Of 2016 Value
The retail portion of The New York Times’ former building has a new owner a year after the Kushner Cos. lost it to foreclosure.
The undisclosed buyer — a high net worth individual, according to sources familiar with the deal — acquired the asset for just $28M, according to a press release. The price is less than a 10th of what Kushner paid for the multilevel Midtown Manhattan retail condominium less than a decade ago.
Kushner acquired the 248K SF retail condominium at 229 W. 43rd St. for $295M. The next year, it refinanced its mortgage with a $370M loan package from Deutsche Bank and SL Green. At the time, it was valued at $470M.
The retail space includes the first four floors and two below-grade floors of the 18-story building. Columbia Property Trust owns the remainder of the building, which sits across from the site of SL Green's proposed Caesars Palace Times Square casino.
The property was hit hard in 2020, when National Geographic and Gulliver's Gate, which occupied nearly 43% of the retail space combined, defaulted on their lease payments and vacated the premises, according to credit rating firm KBRA.
The mortgage was placed in special servicing, and the lenders moved to foreclose on the property in November 2020. Special servicer KeyBank, acting on behalf of the CMBS trustee, won a May 2024 auction and took the keys to the property two months later, according to New York City property records.
The retail condo was transferred for a consideration of $1K, but it was assessed at a value of $51.3M, according to the deed filed July 31. A year later, it traded for just more than half that.
CBRE was hired to manage and market the property for sale. A deal was struck earlier this year but fell through, according to commentary on Morningstar Credit’s database.
The new buyer was identified only as Forum at Times Square LLC, a Delaware-registered shell company that lists no officers on its corporate registration with the New York Department of State. A source familiar with the deal said the buyer is a high net worth investor but declined to elaborate. The deal hasn't yet appeared in the city register.
CBRE’s Jack Stillwagon and Doug Middleton brokered the sale for the lending group. BayBridge Real Estate Capital’s Jay Miller and AJ Felberbaum advised the anonymous buyer, according to a press release, which said the building “has not had entrepreneurial ownership for more than five years.”
“[The buyer] intends to curate an optimal tenant mix with complementary entertainment, retail and restaurant concepts,” Miller said in a statement. “The company’s goal is to create a vibrant ecosystem where tenants will thrive surrounded by the energy in Times Square. The likelihood of Caesars Palace Times Square opening directly across the street from the property enhances its appeal as an experiential destination for visitors and New Yorkers alike.”
The tower was built in 1912 to house The New York Times, which moved out in 2007 to its present-day headquarters at 620 Eighth Ave. A handful of tech and media tenants, including Snap, now lease the upper floors of the building.
The largest current tenant is Lucky Strike, which operates a nearly 76K SF flagship Bowlero on the third and fourth floors. Los Tacos No. 1 and Benihana Corp.’s Ra Sushi are also tenants in the property, which is 34.5% leased, according to the release.
