Historic Flatiron Building to Be Converted into Condos, Owners Say

The 175 Fifth Avenue building will no longer stand as one of the city's office spaces

The Flatiron building is facing some changes.

The New York City landmark in the center of Manhattan will be converted into luxury housing. The impending change was announced by its owners on Thursday, per The New York Times.

The Madison Park building's future as housing began to take shape when The Brodsky Organization bought a stake in the building this week. The residential developer joined the building's co-owners - GFP Real Estate, the Sorgente Group, ABS Partners and investor Nathan Silverstein —  to transform the triangular tower into a building with residential spaces.

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The Sorgente Group will help convert the space into for-purchase condominiums, per The Real Deal.

The transformation will take three years, as the owners need for approval from the Department of City Planning. The approval process itself could take a year while the demolition and construction could take an additional two years.

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The building has a standard floor plan of 10,600 square feet, while the total square footage of 255,000 square feet, according to GFP’s documents.

Since the conversion will be costly, sources involved in other investment sales told The Messenger that future tenants could be charged an estimated $3,000 per square foot to turn a profit or $1,600 per square foot for the owners to break even.

While the first floor will remain a retail space, the owners are going through various floor plans and there could be about 40 total residences after the renovation, reports The New York Times.

The 120-year-old building has been empty since its sole office tenant, Macmillan Publishers, moved out in 2019.

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However, after GFP Real Estate, the Sorgente Group, ABS Partners and Silverstein couldn’t decide what to do with the vacant landmark, a New York Supreme Court Judge ordered the building to be put up for sale in January, per The Independent.

Two months later, the Madison Park property was up for auction in March. Eleven bidders attended the auction, where venture capital fund manager Jacob Garlick offered a $190 million investment, but then disappeared when it was time to pay the 10 percent down payment fund, reported The New York Times.

GRP's Jeff Gural, the building's majority interest owner, told the Times a week after the auction that Garlick overbid on the building. It was valued at over $200 million before the pandemic, but its value dropped afterward, the Times reported.

On Thursday, Gural told the Times he believed adding residencies to the building was the best use of it during the current economic conditions, adding, "There are going to be 40 people who want to live in the Flatiron Building."

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