Kaufman & AXA Pay $48.5 Million for Flatiron District Landmark

A Flatiron district landmark building changed hands on Tuesday for $48.5 million, or $725 per square foot. A joint venture consisting of AXA Investment Managers and the Kaufman Organization became the owners of the 67,000-square-foot, mixed-use property at 56 West 22^nd Street after acquiring it from an entity linked to the Blum family.

Bob Knakal, Stephen Palmese, Jonathan Hagerman, Brock Emmetsberger and Patrick Yanotta of JLL represented the seller. A team consisting of Andrew Pikearski, Michael Kazmierski and Lorenzo Bakewell-Stone represented AXA and Kaufman. The property at 55 West 22^nd Street had come on the market last September for an initial asking price of $50 million. According to New York City public records, it had last been sold in 1961 for an undisclosed amount.

56 West 22nd Street, New York City

The 12-story property has roughly 6,300 square feet of retail space and 55,200 square feet of Class B Midtown Manhattan office space. It is ideally located within a five-block radius of seven subway lines, as well as within walking distance of Penn Station.

The 113-year-old property is currently 55% leased ― with many of the current leases expiring in 2021 ― and will be subject to extensive improvements, per a prepared statement by the new owners. Kaufman will supervise the renovation efforts, which will include improvements to the building’s systems, lobby and elevators.

AXA and Kaufman had previously joined forces to acquire another Midtown office property at 40 West 25^th Street. That 12-story asset had previously belonged to Japanese investment firm Unizo Holdings, which fetched a hefty $121.5 million for the 132,700-square-foot office space in the closing months of 2019.