ASB Sells 400 Madison Ave. for $194.5M

Daishin Securities acquired the 22-story Midtown East office building.

400 Madison Ave.

NEW YORK CITY —ASB Real Estate Investments sold its 180,000 square-foot office building at 400 Madison Ave. to the Korean financial services company, Daishin Securities, for $194.5 million. ASB completed the transaction on behalf of its Allegiance Real Estate Fund, a $7.3 billion core investment vehicle.

In 2012, ASB purchased the 21-story, landmarked building, located between 47th and 48th streets. In a joint venture with Macklowe Properties, ASB bought the property from William Macklowe Company for $139.4 million, according to Real Capital Analytics. The building was constructed in 1929 and ASB subsequently repositioned the property, renovating the common area and façade, and offered a spec suite program.

There are more than 40 tenants currently in the building. Some of the retailers include Citi, Bluestone Lane, Robert Marc, Kamakura and The Tie Bar.

“We took the opportunity to harvest the investment after successfully enhancing the building through our value-add strategy and taking advantage of buyer interest in securing a core asset in a prime Midtown location,” says Brodie Ruland, ASB SVP.

Daishin, which specializes in securities and investment banking, is listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. With Alchemy Properties, Daishin recently bought two Collegiate Church buildings on the Upper West Side for $158 million. It plans to develop the property into residential condominiums.

A Meridian Capital Group’s institutional investment sales team comprising Helen Hwang, Karen Wiedenmann, Brian Szczapa, Ernie Nichols and Nicholas Dailey represented Daishin. ASB did not use an external broker.