In an attempt to capitalize on downtown’s improving real estate market, a New York investment group that purchased a landmark office building earlier this year is trying to sell it already for quick profit.
Downtown Acquisitions Partners, a group led by former investment banker Jeffrey Citron, has hired Jones Lang Wootton to sell 17 Battery Place, a 1 million-square-foot property overlooking Battery Park.
Acquisitions Partners is hoping to get top dollar by selling to one of the many developers who are looking to convert downtown office buildings into apartments.
The group in January reportedly paid $35 million for the property. It actually includes two attached buildings: one that was built in 1902, the other in 1972.
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They are now marketing the complex for more than $50 million, according to real estate sources.
Last year, such a markup would have been laughable, given vacancies of more than 25 percent plaguing downtown buildings built before World War II.
But this year, anything seems possible. Investors have been flocking back to Manhattan office property, assuming that rents are poised for a major rebound.
Demand especially has been heating up for downtown office property that could be converted into apartment buildings.
Encouraged by the booming rental market and special tax incentives in Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s downtown revitalization plan, investors have purchased more than 10 buildings in the past year for that purpose.
Formerly known as the Whitehall Building, 17 Battery was the center of the city’s shipping industry in the early 1900s. It later housed most of American Express’ New York operation.