NEW YORK CITY — St. John’s University has sold a residential development site located at 101 Murray St. in the Tribeca section of Manhattan for $223 million. A partnership between New York-based Fisher Brothers and The Witkoff Group purchased the property.
“101 Murray Street is a development site like no other in Manhattan with the potential to become a truly world-class residence,” says Helen Hwang, executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield, which represented St. John’s University in the transaction. “We are privileged to have helped St. John’s University successfully realize such an important transaction for its academic mission.”
Located on the northeast corner of Murray and West streets, 101 Murray Street is slated for a residential development totaling 310,028 square feet, with the potential to increase to 372,336 square feet through floor area bonuses. The underlying zoning provides no height restriction, allowing the developer to maximize ceiling heights.
“This is yet another exciting new project for Fisher Brothers and we couldn’t be happier,” says Winston Fisher, partner at Fisher Brothers. “Lower Manhattan continues to evolve at a record-setting pace and we are proud to be a part of it, along with The Witkoff Group. We’d also like to thank St. John’s University for being such a great partner in this transaction.”
St. John’s will continue to occupy the 10-story building on the property until mid-2014. The university plans to locate to another Manhattan campus facility to house academic programs, such as the Tobin College of Business School of Risk Management, prior to the 2014-15 academic year.
“The University takes great pride in our presence in New York City, and the overwhelming success of this transaction allows us to ensure the strength of that presence for generations of St. John’s students to come,” adds Martha Hirst, executive vice president, COO and treasurer of St. John’s University.
In May, St. John’s announced it had agreed to sell the property to the Fisher Brothers and Witkoff Group partnership.
“We are very excited to be joining with the Fisher Brothers as partner and co-developer of this exceptional property, and we laud St. John’s for its vision,” Steven Witkoff, chairman and CEO of The Witkoff Group, said in a statement at the time. “Lower Manhattan is experiencing dynamic commercial and residential growth, and this site sits atop the front edge of that wave.”
Helen Hwang, Nat Rockett, Karen Wiedenmann, Steve Kohn and Michael Rotchford of Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets team represented St. John’s University in the transaction.