By Holly Dutton
Atlas Capital has bought a Times Square building with a lot of upside options.
The company, led by Jeff Goldberger and Andy Cohen, paid $62.4 million for 311-319 West 43rd Street, a 14-story, fully occupied office building between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, according to public records.
Eastern Consolidated chairman and CEO Peter Hauspurg with vice chairman Brian Ezratty and director financial services Scott Ellard represented the seller Zubarry Associates, while Ezratty also procured the buyer, who assumed the seller’s mortgage in the form of a securitized loan.
“We had to act quickly, since the buyer was obliged to close the transaction by year end within 45 days,” said Ezratty, who added that the property’s close proximity to Times Square, it’s current cash flow, potential for rental increases when leases expire, as well as its upscale international Chinese restaurant retail tenant, were all drivers in attracting Atlas.
Hakkasan NYC, which spent $17 million on the 11,000 s/f installation, boasts worldwide locations including London, Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Mumbai.
With completion of the new 300,000 s/f Intercontinental Hotel on the same block, the repositioning of the former New York Times building and the completion of leasing at 11 Times Square, the building’s retail component should continue to benefit from enormous pedestrian traffic.
Should the residential market continue to strengthen, current zoning would allow for a future conversion of part if not all of the building to residential use when leases expire. Alternatively, new ownership could upgrade the property to the Class A category.
Attorneys in the transaction were Andy Herz Esq. of Patterson Belknap for the seller and a Rob Ivanhoe-led team from Greenberg Traurig for Atlas.
