Brookfield Properties appears to have taken a major loss on an office building sale by Penn Station.
The real estate giant has sold 333 W. 34th St. to a limited liability company for $150 million after buying it in 2018 for $255 million, a $105 million decrease, city records show. The 10-story office tower was built in 1953 and renovated in 2010, and it spans about 350,000 square feet, according to commercial real estate database CoStar.
Brookfield spokeswoman Laura Montross called the deal “a win for both parties” in a statement, saying it allows Brookfield the chance “to deploy capital toward high-performing assets elsewhere.”
A representative for the buyer could not be reached for comment. The buyer is based around the corner from the property it just picked up, at 370 W. 35th St., an office building owned by Taconic Partners, according to property records.
However, Montross referred to 333 W. 34th St. as the buyer’s “future home,” indicating that it may soon be moving into its recently purchased building.
Asking rents for office space at the West 34th Street building range from $47 to $57 per square foot, and tenants include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Godiva, CoStar says. The property was also the longtime home of a Sam Ash music store, although that company closed all of its locations and was acquired by the Gonher music group last year.
Brookfield had purchased the property, located between Eighth and Ninth avenues near the New Yorker Hotel, as part of New York REIT’s liquidation of its portfolio. The company maintained an average occupancy rate of 98% during its ownership of the building.
The massive real estate firm, which recently moved its head office from Toronto to New York as part of an effort to attract additional investors, is reportedly also exploring a sale of the retail portion of 685 Fifth Ave. in Midtown and hoping to get more than $300 million for it. The company filed an application to rezone and expand the Staten Island Mall last year as well.
