Prolific buyer Joseph Sitt of Thor Equities is in contract to buy two connected buildings on Fifth Avenue near the Diamond District for roughly $105 million.
One is a slender 12-story building designed by Warren & Wetmore in 1921 that sits at the northwest corner of 562 Fifth and 46th Street, with its broader façade on 46th. Sitt is buying the master lease on this property that runs for another 12 years.
Next door the tiny 564 Fifth has the feel of an out-of-place Swiss chalet with its white façade, peaked roof and profusion of wood beam trim.
The seven-story former townhouse became known as Finchley’s Castle after it was reconstructed for Edmund Goodman’s men’s store by architect Beverly King in 1945. It is being purchased outright by Sitt.
The total of 120,000 square feet of office and retail on one of the least improved blocks in Midtown is being sold by Bank Leumi through Brian Gell of CBRE. Neither Sitt nor CBRE would comment.
This area between 42nd Street and Rockefeller Center has lots of feet on the street and, therefore, rising retail rents.
Sitt is also developing 516-520 Fifth Ave. and owns Nos. 445, 590, 597 and 693 Fifth. On lower Fifth, he has 139 and 245 Fifth.