I-sales recap: Union Theological Seminary buys 27 condos from Lendlease

Union Theological Seminary bought 27 condos for $23.5 million from Lendlease at 100 Claremont Avenue, part of the seminary on the Columbia University campus that has undergone a major renovation.

Lendlease and partner L+M Development Partners had purchased the air rights from the seminary and filed plans for the building at the end of 2018, after Columbia announced plans for a renovation of the entire seminary. The two firms secured a $250 million construction loan from Barings in 2020.

For last week’s sale, Serene Jones, the seminary’s president, signed for the institution, and Caaminee Pandit Vecchio signed for Lendlease.

The seminary sale was among last week’s transactions in the city’s middle market, defined as those between $10 and $40 million. The rest are listed below, ranked by dollar amount:

1. A school condominium building in Maspeth has swapped hands for $38 million. The New York City School Construction Authority bought the building from Madison Realty Capital. Dubbed Woodside Central, the building was constructed in 2023 and consists of 12 floors, 230,000 square feet, 183 residential units and one commercial unit. It is located at 46-10 70th Street. The sale was coupled with a termination of leases.
2. RJF Realty unloaded a Midtown office building that it has owned since 2000 for $37 million. According to Commercial Observer, the buyer is Korean media company MediaWill. Located at 110 West 32nd Street, the building was constructed in 1920 and has 102,000 square feet over eight floors and five units.
3. Andrew Bradfield’s Orange Management finalized its sale of 125 Third Street to investors Allan Lebovits, Joey Wertzberger and Moishe Loketch for $30.4 million. Orange Management and its partners paid $21.6 million in February 2022, shortly after zoning changes in Gowanus were approved. Bradfield later bought his partners’ stakes for about $21 million after blocking a sale of the site to Rotem Rosen.

   Now the development is in the hands of new investors, who will have to contend with the 421a tax break construction deadline.

4. Across the street from that Gowanus site, Frank Ng sold a lot for $19.5 million to Yosef Rabinowtz. The industrial buildings on the site, 130 Third Street, were constructed in 1910. It’s 60,000 square feet. According to PincusCo, Danny Turkel filed plans for a 14-unit building that has not yet been permitted. Ng acquired the deed to the property in 1995.
5. Empire State Realty Trust bought two buildings in Williamsburg from the Mann Group. One is an apartment building at 159 Wythe Avenue, in a $15 million deal that continues the company’s push into multifamily. It was constructed in 1910 and has six residential units, one commercial unit over 8,000 square feet. The property last traded in 2019 for $8.5 million.

   The second, an office building next door at 161 Wythe Avenue, was purchased for $11 million. It was built in 1945 and has 3,000 square feet over three floors. It last traded in 2019 for $6.3 million.

Correction: Union Theological Seminary is independent of Columbia University. An earlier version of this story indicated otherwise.

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