Sotheby’s sells New York City office to Weill Cornell for US$510 million
The auction house is set to relocate to the Breuer building at 945 Madison Ave, which formerly housed the Whitney Museum of American Art
[NEW YORK] Sotheby’s sold its former headquarters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to Weill Cornell Medicine.
The auction house sold the property for US$510 million, according to sources familiar with the matter. The building, located one block from the East River, was the home of Sotheby’s starting in 1980.
The auction house is set to relocate to the Breuer building at 945 Madison Ave., which formerly housed the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Sotheby’s agreed to lease space in the 10-floor building at 1334 York Ave as part of the deal, the auction house said.
“We will use the proceeds to further reduce debt and invest even more fully in our core business, including renovating our leased office space at York,” Sotheby’s said. “We will now have a best-in-class front of house, back of house and staff working environment, all aligned with our brand and client expectations, and all at a lower net annual cost.”
David Giancola, Geoff Goldstein and Steve Klein of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the buyer. CBRE Group’s Doug Middleton and Mary Ann Tighe represented the seller.
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A representative for Sotheby’s declined to comment on the price. A representative for Weill Cornell Medicine confirmed the purchase and said that the deal gives them a real estate asset for “materially the same net cost as leasing”.
Weill Cornell Medicine has leased space at 1334 York since 2023. No plans for a sale were announced at the time.
The purchase “extends Weill Cornell Medicine’s main campus, which is one block south”, a Weill Cornell Medicine spokesperson said. “The expanded footprint will enable the institution to consider multiple uses, including expanding clinical services to connect more New Yorkers to its network of exceptional physicians.”
Sotheby’s refinanced the York Avenue building in 2020 with a roughly US$484 million five-year loan. BLOOMBERG
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