General Growth Properties

730 Fifth Avenue

Office-to-Luxury Hotel-Residential Conversion Planned at Crown Building in Midtown

10:00 am on June 2, 2016 By Reid Wilson

In early 2015, Wharton Properties and General Growth Properties (GGP) acquired, for $1.75 billion, the Crown Building – a 25-story, 385,600-square-foot multi-use commercial building – at 730 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of West 57th Street in Midtown. Now, it’s been disclosed that developer Michael Shvo and Russian investor Vladislav Doronin are planning to acquire a large portion of the building for a mixed-use conversion project, the New York Post reported. The duo want to convert the upper floors of the current office building into an Aman hotel and 23 ultra-luxury condominium units. Wharton and GGP recently bought out the last remaining office tenant. The current owners plan to lease the remainder of the property that isn’t sold to Doronin and Shvo as retail. The retail space is currently being newly renovated and is expected to take up at least the first four above grade levels. Late last year, it was reported that Bulgari signed a 15-year lease on the ground floor.

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685 Fifth Avenue

Office Portion of 20-Story 685 Fifth Avenue Getting 90-Key Boutique Hotel Conversion & Expansion, Midtown

10:00 am on May 25, 2016 By Reid Wilson

In April, news broke that Istanbul-based Gulaylar Group entered into contract to acquire the entire 90,000-square-foot office portion of the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, on the corner of East 54th Street in Midtown. The deal includes the development rights to vertically expand the building by five stories. Those air rights were made available after property owners General Growth Properties and Thor Equities repositioned the building’s three stories of retail space, which now measures 23,400 square feet and is being made into Coach’s flagship store. Now, Gulaylar has disclosed plans to convert the office portion they are buying, along with the future expansion, into a 90-key boutique hotel, The Real Deal Reports. Five hotel chains, including Oetker Collection, AccorHotels, and LVMH’s Cheval Blanc, are currently in negotiations with the developer. The building’s remaining office tenant is moving out in August. Walter Marin’s Midtown-based Marin Architects is the architect of record for the expansion.

220 West 57th Street

Retail Renovation Planned at Four-Story, 21,800-Square-Foot Commercial Building, 220 West 57th Street, Midtown

6:30 am on May 4, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Back in 2014, Thor Equities and General Growth Properties were in contract to acquire the four-story, 21,837-square-foot commercial-retail building at 220 West 57th Street, in Midtown. Now, the developers are expecting to close on the property – an individual landmark dubbed the Society House of the American Society of Civil Engineers – for $85 million in June, according to The Real Deal. Its existing tenant, Lee’s Art Shop, is in the process of moving out, probably in time for the sale, DNAinfo reports. The new owners plan to renovate the building into luxury retail space. Any exterior alterations to the building will have to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The property comes with 104,160 square feet of air rights.

685 Fifth Avenue

New Developer to Construct Five-Story Office Expansion Atop 20-Story Commercial Building at 685 Fifth Avenue, Midtown

1:00 pm on April 29, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Earlier this week, YIMBY reported on applications to expand, by five stories, the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of East 54th Street in Midtown. It was previously reported that Michael Shvo was in contract to acquire, from property owners General Growth Properties and Thor Equities, 90,000 square feet of office space (the entire office portion). That deal has since fallen through, and now, Gulaylar Group is in contract for the office space, according to The Real Deal. As part of the deal, the new owner will also develop the five-story office expansion. The sale is expected to close later this year. The lower portion of the building is currently undergoing a retail redevelopment. Its 23,400 square feet was leased to Coach in February and will become the retailer’s flagship store.

685 Fifth Avenue

Redesigned Retail Space, Five-Story Office Expansion for 20-Story Commercial Building at 685 Fifth Avenue, Midtown

10:00 am on April 25, 2016 By Reid Wilson

General Growth Properties and Thor Equities have filed to expand, by five stories, the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of East 54th Street, in Midtown. The property’s commercial square footage – 109,543 square feet – will remain the same, because a portion of the space on the lower levels will be utilized to build the vertical expansion. As a result, the structure will see an increase in height from 227 feet to 292 feet. Coach has already secured a lease to take 23,400 square feet of retail space on the first few floors for its new flagship store, The Real Deal reports. Midtown South-based Marin Architects is the architect of record. In June of 2014, GGP and Thor acquired the building for $460 million, and it was reported last November that Michael Shvo is in contract to acquire the building’s existing 90,000 square feet of office space for north of $100 million. It doesn’t appear the future office space on floors 21 through 25 was part of the deal with Shvo.

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