NEW YORK CITY — Locally based investment and development firm Vanbarton Group has received $250 million in financing for an office-to-residential conversion project at 1011 First Ave. in Manhattan. An affiliate of Eldridge Capital Management provided the debt.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which had housed its headquarters within the 20-story, 400,000-square-foot building since 1973, sold the property to Vanbarton Group for $103 million. The archdiocese has since relocated to 488 Madison Ave.
The building is located within the Sutton Place submarket in Midtown Manhattan and is known locally as the Cardinal Terrence Cooke Center. Vanbarton plans to convert the property into a 420-unit multifamily property that will offer approximately 8,000 square feet of street-level retail space and more than 55,000 square feet of amenity space.
Of the 420 units, 25 percent (105) will be reserved as affordable housing, though specific income restrictions were not disclosed.
“The addition of 1011 First Avenue to our portfolio marks a significant step in expanding our office-to-residential conversion efforts, building on the success of nearly two decades of converting underutilized real estate and encompassing over 5 million square feet and 5,000 residences,” said Joey Chilelli, Principal at Vanbarton Group.
CBRE’s Doug Middleton and Pierre Hills represented the Archdiocese on the sale, and law firm Greenberg Traurig represented Vanbarton Group. A construction timeline was not announced.