Beacon Capital Partners and MetLife have put their 40-story office tower at 575 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan up for sale, seeking a price above $400 million. The owners had previously tried to sell the property in spring 2022 with a similar asking price, but only offered the 500,000-square-foot office condominium at that time. In this latest attempt, MetLife is also including the building’s 40,000-square-foot retail condo located at the base of the tower, according to an offering memo from Eastdil Secured.
The sales process is being managed by an Eastdil team led by Gary Phillips and Will Silverman. Representatives for Beacon and MetLife did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The building is currently 87 percent occupied. While it is unclear why the owners did not complete a sale three years ago, conditions in Manhattan’s office leasing market have changed since then. By the end of 2023, about 29 million square feet of transactions were recorded in Manhattan, which was lower than the previous year. This year, however, leasing activity is expected to surpass 40 million square feet for the first time since before the pandemic (https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/01/03/manhattan-office-leasing-ends-year-on-a-high-note/).
Located at the corner of East 47th Street and Fifth Avenue, the building sits across from Extell Development’s project at 570 Fifth Avenue. There, developer Gary Barnett has reportedly secured law firm Simpson Thacher as a tenant with a 700,000-square-foot lease to anchor his planned new office and retail development.
MetLife originally purchased 575 Fifth Avenue for $385 million in 2005 and sold a half stake in its office portion to Beacon Capital Partners ten years later.
