OCV Architects sold its office condominium in Nolita and is upgrading to bigger digs in Greenwich Village.
The architecture firm nabbed condo units 408, 409 and 410 at 14 East 4th Street, amounting to 7,000 square feet, for $5 million last month. The deal appeared in public records yesterday. The seller, Anthony J. Loscalzo of Loscalzo & Loscalzo, “had reduced the size of his law firm and no longer needed the space,” according to his broker, Michael Rudder of Rudder Property Group.
Alan Pfeifer of Douglas Elliman represented OCV, which sold its condo at 203 Lafayette Street to a private investor for $2.9 million a week prior to the East 4th Street purchase, Mr. Pfeifer said.
“We had to time it so they both were very close to each other,” Mr. Pfeifer said, noting that the new space gives the firm about double the space it owned on Lafayette Street.
OCV, which has been around for nearly three decades, designed the award-wining Fox Point in the Bronx, a 48-unit affordable housing project which integrated green systems and materials into the design and operation, according to its website.
As OCV renovates the East 4th Street space, it is leasing its space on Lafayette Street from the investor. The renovations, which include adding a central air system, will likely take six months, Mr. Pfeifer said.
The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies weighed the purchase of an office condo at 40 Rector St. for more than $13 million, sources say. The move follows other groups, who prefer to buy rather than rent to avoid paying real estate taxes.
;)
Inc. magazine’s recent article, “How to Build a Company That Lasts Forever ” highlights some of Rudder Property Group’s core beliefs, including having a long-term, hyper focus on your niche business.
Office Condominium For Sale at 633 Third Avenue, New York, NY
Office Condominium For Sale at 666 Broadway, New York, NY
From the Commercial Observer:
Midtown East Office Condo Sale Reflects ‘Ownership Mentality’ of Foreign Firms
By 7:30am
Sumitomo Real Estate has purchased a 3rd floor office condominium at 800 Second Avenue in Midtown East for more than $4.1 million, The Commercial Observer has learned.
Rudder Property Group, one of the only – if not the only – commercial real estate firms in the city that specializes in the office condo sales market, represented the seller, American Payroll Institute, in the sale of the 10,115-square-foot space.
“The office condo market is the tightest we have seen it since before the recession,” Michael Rudder, principal at the firm, who represented the seller with Michael Heller, told The Commercial Observer. “There are a tremendous amount of buyers on the market with virtually no product available.”
Mr. Rudder said office condos represent just two percent of the 500 million square feet of office space in the city, or roughly 10 million square feet across 80 buildings, which is a stark contrast to foreign markets, where companies have an “ownership mentality” and office condos are much more prevalent.
“In many other markets around the world, whether it’s Hong Kong, Singapore, Vancouver, Beijing, and all through Europe, a lot more companies own the office space they occupy,” he said.
Sumitomo Real Estate is a New York-based brokerage firm that is affiliated with the Tokyo-based real estate investment firm of the same name. The company will relocate from its 130 West 42nd Street offices and build out the 800 Second Avenue space.
“Sumitomo recognizes the long term benefits of owning an office condominium in a well located, quality building,” Mr. Rudder said.
American Payroll Institute, a trade organization that advocates for the payroll industry, originally purchased the entire 20,860 square foot floor at 800 Second Avenue in January 2007, with the intention of occupying a portion of the space. In 2011, the firm sold 9,645 square feet of the space to the Mission of Equatorial Guinea. American Payroll will retain and build out the remaining 1,100 square feet.
Sumitomo was represented in-house by Hiroshi Nagata.
Why retailers should own their space:
http://www.rew-online.com/2013/05/15/retail-condos-back-in-fashion/
Crain’s New York Business wrote an article featuring Rudder Property Group on commercial real estate brokers who specialize in a certain aspect of the industry.
Crain’s New York Business explores the trend of non-profits selling their office space in effort to reap the profits from the many years of property value appreciation.
