Insignia Sells Trophy Seagram Building

NEW YORK CITY-Insignia/ESG lists, among other things, investment properties for sale throughout the nation on its Web site. By selecting the name and address of any one of the numerous properties on the list, one can find out who the Insignia brokers are managing the deal, the square footage or acreage, the asking price and the type of property it is. One building notably not on the list that has been a high-profile deal for the company is the Seagram building on Park Avenue in Manhattan.

While a spokesperson for Insignia declined to confirm details of the deal yet, published accounts suggest the price tag was in excess of $375 million and that the buyers are the German developer duo Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs. Rosen and Fuchs formed RFR Holding after emigrating here in the 1980s, and it is through this company, the same one that now owns almost $2 billion worth of Manhattan real estate, that they have purchased the Seagram building.

RFR had originally accumulated its office buildings and multifamily housing buildings during the economic difficulties of the early 1990s when the prices were low. Now, they are apparently hoping to acquire a building in a tight market and cash in on skyrocketing rent rates with a total of between 50% and 75% of the leases up before 2005.

While it seems the Seagram building’s “For Sale” sign has been taken down, Insignia is currently listing a number of New York investment properties for sale. These include: 120 W. 44th St., an office property of 90,000 sf up for an open bid; 126 University Place in Manhattan, an office property of 13,275 sf of space up for an open bid; 455 Central Park West in Manhattan, a one-acre plot up for an open bid; Greenpoint Landing in Brooklyn, 25 acres of land up for an open bid; 13-15 W. 54th St. in Manhattan, an office building of 91,437 sf up for an open bid; 270 Lafayette St. in Manhattan, an office of 162, 430 sf up for an open bid; 45 W. 45th St. in Manhattan, an office property of 125,000 sf up for open bid; Pelham Bay Professional Center in the Bronx, a suburban office complex of 60,000 sf up for an open bid; 685 Third Ave. in Manhattan, an office property of 650,000 sf up for an open bid; 841 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan, an office building of 14,000 sf up for an open bid; and a development site package in the Bronx for one acre up for an open bid.