NEW YORK CITY-DHA Capital LLC and its co-development partner Continental Properties have purchased 12 E. 13th St. in Manhattan. The property was sold for $32 million, or more than $700 per square foot. ABS Partners represented the sellers.
Hertz Rental Car previously occupied the ground floor while the remainder of the building, which spans 45,032 square feet of space, was being used as a parking garage. The new owners plan to turn the structure into upscale condominiums and will likely create a mix of full-floor homes and duplexes, along with retail facilities, according to a release.
“This is a highly desirable location where we intend to create large, super-luxury homes which will appeal to discriminating buyers,” says Steven Fisch, managing partner at Continental Properties, in the release.
”These types of homes are in very strong demand but short supply, particularly downtown,” adds Dan Hollander, managing principal of DHA. The team has engaged Cetra/Ruddy architects to design the conversion, which will not enlarge the building but will add several stories by demolishing part of the rear portion.
Located on the southern side of East 13th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue, the property is close to Union Square. A similar building that was a parking garage at 66 East 11th Street was recently converted into a residential building offering luxury condos.
Odell Real Estate represented the buyer. Hertz had vacated the building as its lease expired this past fall. The move allowed the building to be sold vacant, eliminating the uncertainty of a holdover tenant for potential buyers.
Constructed in 1930 of brick, steel, and concrete, the building was most likely used as a horse stable in addition to a parking garage for cars, as evidenced by heating coils throughout the building, according to ABS director Adam Maxson in a separate release. The building also features two large car elevators.
Recent construction activity in the Greenwich Village area helped create a strong demand for the building from a wide range of buyers that included both small local investors and large international investment groups, Maxson says in the release. The New School is currently constructing a 375,000-square-foot building just across the street and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013. Also, a high-end 113-room boutique hotel, the Jade Hotel, is being built on West 13th Street.
The seller was very happy with the purchase price, according to a press release issued by ABS. “The ABS team performed a stellar job navigating this complex transaction from start to finish,” says Darren Postel, one of the sellers, in the release. “ABS coordinated with a broad range of buyers to get this disposition executed. I could not be happier with the resulting sale at such an impressive number.”
This is the latest in a series of deals for DHA Capital. The firm is in pre-development of a 300-unit rental property on Manhattan’s West Side. At 53 Pitt St. in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, DHA created and is now marketing 14 rental lofts. In Brooklyn, DHA purchased a 200,000-square-foot development site at 88 Richardson St. The property, which was approved for 230 rental units, was sold by DHA in July of 2012. The firm also acquired and sold a stalled luxury co-op in Harlem for repositioning as a rental.
This week (May 16 to May 20), Contractors will continue to excavate earth and rock, and load out material. We will continue to underpin the 13th Street adjacent building. Drilling of tie-backs, installation of rakers, line drilling, lagging and sheeting around the perimeter will progress as well. Preparation for concrete foundation walls is scheduled to begin.
The following week (May 23 to May 27), we will continue line drilling, rock excavation, and loading out as well as, lagging and sheeting. Concrete foundation walls will progress.
Everything, including all those candles, is on deep discount, so hurry in.
Serafina is expanding its chain of quick in-and-out shops by being the first retailer to arrive in the new apartment building on University between 12th and 13th. It’s been about five years since those spaces were ready for occupancy. Now we’ll have yet another spot to buy overpriced coffee.
From Crain’s New York Business:
The P.C. Richard & Son store near Union Square is going the way of the cathode ray television set and VCRs.
The city’s Economic Development Corp. has announced a request for proposals to redevelop a city-owned site at 124 E. 14th St. that for the past 19 years has been home to a two-level building occupied by the electronics and appliance store.
The EDC is encouraging developers to pitch projects that include new office space for booming industries in the neighborhood, such as technology and creative businesses. According to the city’s guidelines, the development could provide fledgling companies with the space to get started and also a location for young but established firms to transition from incubator and co-working spaces that have sprouted around the city into their own digs.
Proposals may also include residential space, although a spokesman for the city said the EDC’s goal is an office-focused development. Current zoning on the site, however, would seem to encourage a residential component. About 140,000 square feet of housing can be built at the address versus about 93,00 square feet of commercial space. A project could be a blend of the two.
Midtown South has become the city’s hottest office market, with space in the vicinity of Union Square especially popular for its access to transit, shopping, restaurants and tony residential neighborhoods.
“The current site of the PC Richard store will serve as a new tech hub in Union Square, capitalizing on the academic and transit advantages offered by the neighborhood and its proximity to the Flatiron district,” said Maria Torres-Springer, president of the EDC, in a statement. “This is just one example of how we are finding creative uses for the assets we have in a city where space is harder and harder to come by.”
Bids for the property are due by February, the spokesman said, which is the same month that P.C. Richard’s lease is set to expire.
