INTERNATIONALReal Estate News

Manhattan’s biggest retail play since 2021 with US$200M Soho buy

Blackstone is set to acquire a $200 million (AUD $305 million) retail portfolio in Soho, marking the biggest investor-led retail purchase in Manhattan since 2021.

The deal includes four properties, with tenants such as Patagonia and high-end fashion brand Amiri, signalling renewed confidence in New York’s retail sector.

The Real Deal reported that properties, currently owned by ASB Real Estate Investments, were purchased between 2012 and 2016 for a combined $204 million (AUD $311 million).

Some retail leases are below market rates, and Blackstone sees an opportunity to lift rents in a market that has been recovering steadily.

The portfolio also includes office space, accounting for more than half the total square footage.

Elena Clarfield, a senior associate at Blackstone Real Estate, said the deal reflects the firm’s ability to “play offense in today’s market” and capitalise on prime-location opportunities.

ASB CEO Robert Bellinger noted the sale aligns with the firm’s strategy of shifting away from office holdings in favour of industrial, apartment, and self-storage investments.

Since 2021, ASB has offloaded $870 million (AUD $1.3 billion) in office properties and is continuing a broader $1 billion (AUD $1.52 billion) asset sale.

The transaction, negotiated by a Newmark team led by Adam Spies and Josh King, is the largest since Aurora Capital Associates’ $192 million (AUD $293 million) retail condo purchase at 530 Fifth Avenue in 2021.

Soho’s retail market has seen significant improvement, particularly along Broadway, where rents have surged 35% year-over-year to $679 (AUD $1,036) per square foot.

CBRE reports that availability is tightening, pushing pricing levels back to figures not seen since 2017.

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Catherine Nikas-Boulos

Catherine Nikas-Boulos is the Digital Editor at Elite Agent and has spent the last 20 years covering (and coveting) real estate around the country.