Sotheby’s New York HQ Obtains $483M Refi

1334 York Avenue. Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank

Renowned auction house Sotheby’s has landed a $483 million refinancing loan for 1334 York Ave., its longtime headquarters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The five-year, floating rate senior loan from Barclays was arranged by a Newmark Knight Frank team of Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Chris Kramer, Nick Scribani and Dominick Calisto.

Located in the Lenox Hill neighborhood, the 506,000-square-foot office building is 100 percent owner-occupied and has served as Sotheby’s headquarters since 1980. The property houses a state-of-the-art gallery, auction and office space. The mid-rise tower is home to Sotheby’s sole auction salesroom in North America, its principal exhibition space and Sotheby’s Financial Services. Ground-floor retail at the property includes Sotheby’s Wine and Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar.

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Sotheby’s first purchased the 10-story property in 2000 from Benenson Capital Partners for $11 million. The new owner undertook a full-scale redevelopment of the building, adding six stories and completing a full gut renovation and redesign of the interior. In 2003, RFR Realty purchased the building in a sale-leaseback deal for $175 million. Sotheby’s regained ownership of the property in 2009 and recently undertook a series of renovations to create new art galleries and new public and client exhibition spaces.

Last year, Sotheby’s announced it was entering into a merger agreement to be acquired by BidFair and art collector Patrick Drahi. As part of the acquisition, Sotheby’s will structure a long-term, triple net lease at the building.

Manhattan moves

The impact of the pandemic hasn’t stopped many Manhattan players from moving forward with office projects and major lease deals. In early September, SL Green announced it had landed a $600 million refinancing loan for 410 Tenth Ave., its Hudson Yards office redevelopment project. The building will be home to Amazon and First Republic Bank.

SL Green’s move came about a month after Facebook announced it had inked a 730,000-square-foot office lease at Vornado’s Farley Building redevelopment next to Penn Station. The lease, one of the largest of the year in New York, encompasses the entire office portion of the building, a former post office that is being converted into a mixed-use complex.