College Board Sells HQ to Fordham

NEW YORK CITY—Some six months after signing a lease for its new home, the College Board has closed on the sale of its existing one. The owner of the SAT and other standardized tests has sold its nine-story, 65,303-square-foot office condominium at 45 Columbus Ave. to Fordham University for $45.9 million.

Located on floors one through nine and zoned for a variety of uses, the 45 Columbus office condo will house Fordham's administrative offices. It occupies the lower floors of the Sofia, a 27-story, 94-unit luxury residential condo built in 1930.

“The College Board chose Fordham University over several residential developers because both parties shared the same visions and goals for the space,” says David Lebenstein, senior managing director and principal of Cassidy Turley. “The transaction provided Fordham with the rare opportunity to consolidate three locations into one central office in close proximity to its Lincoln Center campus, further expanding its footprint in the Upper West Side.” The offices currently are dispersed among 33 W. 60th St., 888 Seventh Ave. and 1790 Broadway.

Lebenstein and Graham Stephens, both of Cassidy Turley's New York office, and Kirk Diamond and Tim Farley of the firm's Atlanta office, represented the College Board. Joe Morningstar, managing director of capital markets at Hudson Realty Capital, represented Fordham.

This past January, GlobeSt.com reported that the College Board had signed a lease for 145,000 square feet at 250 Vesey St. within Brookfield Office Properties' Brookfield Place complex in Lower Manhattan. The organization will occupy the 16th and 17th floors and part of the 18th floor.