The property housing the original Barneys New York department store has been sold at less than half of what it commanded about 10 years ago.
The property, located at 115 Seventh Ave. at the corner of West 17th St., has been sold for $22 million to an unidentified group of Flushing, New York, investors just before the end of 2023, Highcap Group, which represented the buyer, said in a statement. The seller was lender Argentic Management, which took over the property in 2022 after the building’s prior owner foreclosed on a loan, Highcap said. The property sold for $57 million in 2014, Highcap said.
Ashkenazy Acquisition Group was the previous buyer before Argentic foreclosed on the property, according to CoStar data.
Josh Goldflam, Highcap co-founder and principal, told CoStar News there were “a bunch of interested buyers” in the property. He declined to specify the winning buyer.
The famed department store chain, known for its cutting-edge fashion coveted by celebrities and window displays, was founded in 1923 before it was said to eventually close all its U.S. stores, including its celebrity-frequented Madison Avenue flagship on the Upper East Side, in 2020.
It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 before Authentic Brands, which owns labels including Eddie Bauer, Reebok and Forever 21, acquired Barneys’ intellectual property and inked an exclusive licensing deal with rival luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue, according to the announcement at the time.
The 115 Seventh building was gutted by the prior owner for redevelopment before the pandemic sealed the project’s “demise,” Highcap said. The 40,000-square-foot, seven-story property also comes with 15,000 square feet of air rights that were previously bought from the neighboring Rubin Museum of Art, Highcap said, adding the site can accommodate a development totaling 55,000 square feet.
The new ownership plans to turn the building into a residential condominium development with retail at the base, Goldflam told CoStar News.
For the Record
The property was listed by David Schechtman and Abie Kassin of Meridian Capital, and it was sold by Highcap’s Goldflam and Charles Chang.