666 Fifth Retail Back on the Block

NEW YORK CITY-One week after securing the richest retail leasing deal in New York history, the retail portion of 666 Fifth Ave. is going back on the block. A spokesman for the Carlyle Group/Crown Acquisitions partnership that bought a controlling interest in the retail condominium in 2008 tells GlobeSt.com that Carlyle and Crown have hired Doug Harmon of Eastdil Secured to market the property to prospective buyers.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the partnership intends to sell the retail condo for between $600 million and $700 million, a markup of 14% to 33% on the $525 million it paid two years ago. The venture says that since buying a controlling interest in the condo from the Kushner Cos., it has increased the value by buying out existing tenants with below-market leases, according to the Journal.

In place of those below-market tenants are Abercrombie & Fitch’s Hollister brand, which took 15,500 square feet last October, and Japanese retailer Uniqlo, which signed a lease for 89,340 square feet to establish a global flagship location. Uniqlo’s 15-year deal is for more than $300 million, reportedly setting a record for retail rents.

Mark Schoenfeld, a managing director at Carlyle, told the Journal that a business plan has been completed that will enable 666 Fifth to have “a unique combination” of yield and long-term appreciation. The group’s intention is to build what Schoenfeld called a “super block” of retailers that it expects to generate more sales than any other block in the city, the Journal says. Asking rents in the 666 Fifth retail condo average $2,500 per square foot.