Friedland Properties Buys NYC’s 706 Madison Ave. for $142M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Jones Lang LaSalle represented BNY Mellon in the sale of 706 Madison Ave., a 19,100-square-foot, premier retail building, that was sold to Friedland Properties for $141.5 million.

“First of all it’s a corner property unit in the heart of the retail corridor on Madison Avenue with high-end global retailers, so it commands some of the highest rents in the city,” Jon Caplan, JLL’s Vice Chairman in its capital markets New York office, told Commercial Property Executive. “Retailers are as high as $1,500 a foot so it’s a very, very special retail corridor.”

Situated in what is known as the “Gold Coast retail corridor,” 706 Madison encompasses three levels above grade, a basement and sub-basement, and the sales total amounted to a little more than $10,000 per square foot for the above-grade space.

BNY Mellon and its predecessor bank had developed the property and owned it since it was built. Seeing the value of the space rise made it the right time to sell and move the operation elsewhere, Caplan said.

The acquisition includes more than 80 prime feet of frontage on Madison Avenue at the corner of 63rd Street, which Caplan said was prime for strong redevelopment and contributed to the strong price.

Friedland plans to convert the prewar colonial office building into full retail use.

“The site’s excess development rights offer additional value enhancement potential,” Caplan said. “(Friedland) will redevelop the property into a retail jewel box.”

Friedland already had a strong presence along Madison Avenue with retail tenants such as Donna Karan, Dolce & Gabbana, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.

“It’s hard to find properties on the market that are similar in terms of pricing and size,” Caplan said. “The existing building is approximately 13,500 square feet above grade and there are only a small handful of deals in that price range.”

Richard Baxter, Scott Latham and Yoron Cohen joined Caplan as part of the Jones Lang LaSalle New York Capital Markets team on this transaction.

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