Igal Namdar’s Namdar Realty Group is in contract to buy 250 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan for roughly $280 million. The full-block, 26-story office tower stretches between Eighth Avenue and Broadway along the 57th Street corridor and has been pitched as a mid-market alternative to the neighborhood’s trophy office addresses.
Deal Details
The contract price comes out to about $518 per square foot for the roughly 540,000-square-foot building, a sharp drop from the approximately $350 million the owner had been seeking earlier this year. The property is about 84 percent leased and the retail podium is anchored by T.J. Maxx under a lease that runs through 2041, according to The Real Deal.
ESRT’s Upgrades And Tenants
Empire State Realty Trust has been marketing the tower with an updated Gensler-designed lobby, a tenant-only wellness amenity branded Refresh57, elevator upgrades and refreshed storefronts, features the company highlights in its leasing pitch. The owner also emphasizes in-building access to the Columbus Circle transit hub and the building’s amenity package as key selling points, per ESRT.
Why Namdar Is Buying
Namdar has built its business around buying out-of-favor retail and office properties at big discounts, then re-leasing them to value-oriented tenants. Bloomberg has described that approach as “bottom-feeder” investing and quoted Namdar saying, “Our goal is to stick to those B and B-plus assets.” The outlet has also reported that the firm has been shifting its focus to aging Manhattan offices where pricing dislocations create opportunity.
What It Signals For Midtown
The roughly $70 million gap between earlier marketing and the current contract price underscores how older Midtown office stock is still working through a messy price discovery phase and shows which buyers are willing to make large, value-driven bets. The planned disposition of 250 West 57th Street also fits into a broader pattern, as Empire State Realty Trust has been actively rebalancing its holdings toward Manhattan, a strategy explored by Commercial Observer.
What’s Next
A Newmark team handled the marketing and brokerage for the deal, and Namdar is said to be buying alongside Empire Capital, although specific financing details and a closing timetable have not yet been disclosed. Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, The Real Deal reports.
