By Sarah Trefethen
A joint venture of Fisher Brothers, the Witkoff Group and The Vector Group has purchased the property at 101 Murray Street in Tribeca from St. John’s University, the university announced last week.
The property is currently the site of a 10-story academic building, but the developers may be eying it as the future home of a new addition to the red-hot Tribeca residential market.
The sale price was “well over $200 million,” according to one source familiar with the deal.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to enhance the University’s academic offerings, improve facilities and to augment the school’s endowment, which will allow for a significant increase in ongoing financial aid for St. John’s students, according to St. John’s. In March 2013, the University’s investment portfolio reached $411 million, the highest in its history.
“We are very excited to be joining with the Fisher Brothers as partner and co-developer of this exceptional property, and we laud St. John’s for its vision. Lower Manhattan is experiencing dynamic commercial and residential growth, and this site sits atop the front edge of that wave,” Steven Witkoff, chairman and CEO of the Witkoff Group, said in a statement.
St. John’s executive vice president, chief operating officer and treasurer, Martha K. Hirst, together with University General Counsel Joseph Oliva, led the in-house team for St. John’s. Cushman & Wakefield, led by Capital Markets executive vice president Helen Hwang, served as a real estate advisor to the University, and Thomas J. Henry, Partner (Real Estate), headed the team from the law firm Willkie Farr and Gallagher, which served as outside real estate counsel.
