(Bloomberg) -- Manhattan-based Vanbarton Group is under contract to buy 77 Water St. with plans to convert the lower Manhattan property to apartments, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vanbarton agreed to pay roughly $95 million for the 26-story tower and could create as many as 600 rental units, said one of the people, asking not to be named citing private discussions. The deal for the 1970s-era building, which is owned by investors including Sage, is expected to close before the end of the year, the people said.
Spokespeople for Vanbarton and Sage declined to comment.
Appetite for office-to-residential conversions is growing across New York. Recent deals have been concentrated in downtown Manhattan, as the financial industry shifted from Wall Street to Midtown, leaving gaping vacancies in aging office buildings, a shift that’s been accelerated by remote work.
Tenants at 77 Water St. have included AT&T Inc., law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which sublet its space.
Nearby, developers GFP Real Estate and Metro Loft are converting a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. outpost into more than a thousand apartments. And Metro Loft and Silverstein Properties has started leasing its residences at 55 Broad St., former Goldman Sachs offices that are being redeveloped into 571 apartments.
Vanbarton has done other office-to-housing conversions in New York, including Pearl House, a 1970s building near South Street Seaport that was transformed into 588 luxury rentals. The project, at 160 Water St., was started after the pandemic hit. Amenities include a bowling alley and a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber.
Eastdil Secured advised on the 77 Water St. transaction. A representative for the firm declined to comment.
--With assistance from Nacha Cattan.
(Updates with adviser in last paragraph.)
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