NEW YORK CITY-Five years after acquiring a largely vacant former industrial building at 148 Lafayette St. for $390 per square foot, Property Group Partners has sold it to Epic UK for more than twice that amount. The approximately $130-million deal closed Friday, according to a release from PGP, which owned the 154,953-square-foot Soho office property in partnership with Bruce Toll and members of the Louis-Dreyfus family. London-based Epic, which owns a portfolio of mainly residential properties throughout Manhattan, paid about $850 per square foot for 148 Lafayette.
Formerly known as Louis Dreyfus Property Group, PGP acquired 148 Lafayette in 2007 from a joint venture of Apollo Real Estate Advisors and TDC Construction. That JV in turn had bought it only a year earlier.
Much of the circa-1913 property, which once housed printing presses and clothing manufacturers, was vacant when PGP bought it. Its new owners commenced an extensive renovation and repositioning program, including a new office lobby, building systems and retail storefronts. The building is reportedly among the few office properties in Manhattan to be certified for efficiency through both the nationwide Energy Star program and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Following the 148 Lafayette renovations, PGP was able to fully lease the office component by 2009. Among the property’s office tenants are the corporate headquarters of fashion house Dolce & Gabbana and architectural firm Callison.
In a statement, PGP president Jeffrey I. Sussman says the sale “validates our original strategy with this building. With our partners, we recognized that a complete renovation and expansion would vastly improve this asset for both tenants and investors. Not only did we fully lease the building within 24 months after purchasing it, but we have now completed the successful sale of the property just a few years later.” PGP was represented by the Eastdil Secured team of Douglas Harmon, Adam Spies and Kevin Donner.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.