Eastern's Bar Building sale reflects high valuation trend

Real Estate Weekly, March 22, 2000

Leading commercial brokerage firm, Eastern Consolidated Properties, Inc., has recently sold The Bar Building located at 36 West 44th Street and 35 West 43rd Street, acting as the exclusive agent for SL Green Realty Corp. The Bar Building, located in the heart of the Plaza District, is within one of New York City's most rapidly expanding retail and commercial districts, proximate to Rockefeller Center and Grand Central Station and well-known for its signature architecture and luxury office space.

Since SL Green's purchase of the building, the Bar Building has undergone capital improvements valued at over $1.15 million and now boasts a diverse roster of upscale tenants. The building has enormous growth potential, with upcoming lease expirations through December 2002 totaling nearly 100,000 square feet.

The sale of the building represents a more significant trend in NYC's commercial real estate market today, with market values consistently surpassing even the most aggressive forecasts. According to Peter Hauspurg, chairman, "Eastern has had an active and continuous 15-year relationship with SL Green on both the buy and sell sides, and in this case, we developed an aggressive bidding situation for the property that came in above expectations." Eastern has completed a number of significant deals on behalf of SL Green, including 470 Park Avenue South, 70 West 36th Street and 250 Park Avenue South, among others.

The Eastern team on behalf of the owner included Peter Hauspurg, Brian Ezratty and Jon Epstein. The sale drew a wide list of interested bidders and Ronda Rogovin, also of Eastern Consolidated, represented the purchaser, an investor client of the firm who moved quickly through due diligence to secure the signature site.

Rogovin remarked, "Prices in the Grand Central District continue to maintain high values and exceed our greatest expectations. In only a short time, the rent values we had assumed were increased far beyond our initial assumptions. We are most pleased that the value of this asset was to be recognized through the competitive bidding process Eastern conducted."