Kings Capital has quietly scooped up a long-vacant 17-story building in Manhattan’s Financial District and is steering it toward a full rental revival. The former New York-Presbyterian residence hall, which has sat largely idle in recent years, is now slated to become market-rate apartments, with early filings flagging ground-floor retail and a rooftop amenity. Neighbors can expect the sleepy block to start buzzing again as crews, permits and fencing roll in while the developer lines up financing and approvals.
Sale Price, Financing and Scope
As reported by The Real Deal, Kings Capital, led by George Giannopoulos and Jeffrey Znaty, paid about $30.1 million for the property, buying it from New York-Presbyterian’s real-estate arm. The Real Deal notes that the firm is nearing a roughly $41 million construction loan and that the full rehab is expected to run about $60 million.
Official Filings and Unit Plan
Kings Capital has filed plans with the Department of Buildings to convert the tower into 108 residential units with ground-floor retail, according to Commercial Observer. Those filings outline seven apartments on most floors, a smaller top floor, and roughly 1,536 square feet of storefront space, along with an updated lobby, mail room and package room.
Industry trackers first flagged the conversion push in June, and PincusCo reports that the structure had already been taken down to a 90-unit shell before Kings Capital stepped in. PincusCo also lists the Department of Buildings job number tied to the major alteration application and identifies Ralph Kowalczyk of Issac & Stern Architects as the registered architect on the filing.
Financing and Timeline
According to The Real Deal, the sale came together only after an earlier under-contract deal failed to close, and Kings Capital ultimately spent nearly two years getting the acquisition across the finish line. The outlet reports that the group is close to lining up construction financing from Derby Copeland, which describes itself on its website as a New York-based opportunistic real-estate finance firm. In a statement to The Real Deal, Giannopoulos said, “bringing a deal like this together took vision, teamwork, persistence, and, above all, blessings from the man above.”
Where This Fits in FiDi's Rebound
The Financial District has steadily turned into a laboratory for office-to-residential conversions as landlords hunt for new uses and renters hunt for apartments, a trend that has already produced some of Lower Manhattan’s biggest recent makeovers. Commercial Observer points to several high-profile conversion projects that have reshaped the neighborhood’s skyline and sidewalk life, and Kings Capital’s plans would put yet another long-quiet property back into circulation.
Next up for the project are closing on the construction loan, pulling permits and starting the gut rehab described in the DOB application. If those timelines hold, scaffolding could go up later this year. Kings Capital did not immediately return requests for comment, and New York-Presbyterian’s property arm did not respond to inquiries through its listed channels. For now, the sale ends an extended stretch of vacancy and puts a prominent FiDi block firmly back on the development map.
