Madison Square Shocker: Toy Building Condos Off?

Tuesday, December 19, 2006, by Joey

The Next Great Neighborhood took somewhat of a hit today, as Steve Cuozzo drops the bombshell in the Post that the International Toy Center just off Madison Square Park may not be going condo after all. Joseph Chetrit, who bought 200 Fifth Avenue, 1107 Broadway and the eighth-floor footbridge that connects them, has contacted "several major commercial brokerages" to find office tenants for the buildings—a sudden about-face from his plan to convert the buildings into luxury condos right in the Shake Shack's backyard. Now, is this a commentary on the softening market, such as the aborted condo plans at 485 Fifth Avenue and Sutton East? It's dicey, because Chetrit is locked up in some serious litigation with the Toy Center, and some of the remaining tenants' leases go until 2014, so he could just be tossing in the towel. Plus, there's the whole surging office space market. Still, this was poised to be an absolute blockbuster.
· Not Toying With Condos [NYPost]
· Toy Building Not So Fun Right Now [Curbed]

[International Toy Center Photo courtesy of PropertyShark]

Filed under Manhattan: Gramercy/Flatiron District, Real Estate Development,

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Comments (5 extant)

Converters, take note:

When a building is still a quarter full at good rental rates, switiching off elevators and turning off hallway lighting along with not cleaning the bathrooms etc is not going to vacate the space.

The building would have made a very nice conversion to condos; a better conversion to rentals. But if the place isn't one step away from being delivered vacant, the cash needed to vacate the space will kill any conversion plan.

Commercial Condos anyone? Live/Work? Any ideas if this deal is in any way salvageable?

By CommercialBroker at December 19, 2006 9:04 AM

Those condos would have been amazing. Great location, high ceilings, big windows, right on the park. This is an indication that the market may have too many units in the pipeline. How many recently completed units (in the last two years) are already being put back on the market? Anyone know?

I would like to see this project go forward because the area is only just starting to reach a residential critical mass. These units were needed to push it over.

By Madison Square Parker at December 19, 2006 10:15 AM

this is exactly the type of thing that will prevent the supply explosion everyone's predicting by reading the filing permit tea leaves.

By yo at December 19, 2006 10:52 AM

any comments on 225 5th? completion, occupancy, do we like it? 76 madison? folks very quiet on both of these. on the one hand im kind of psyched that the 400 units are scrapped...it mightve taken 2-3 yrs to move them all...but the necessary infrastructure is lacking in the hood...maybe they build it and put whole foods in!!! the area needs a movie house too.

By bob at December 19, 2006 5:43 PM

a movie house? 19th street is four blocks away. Whole foods - maybe, but that only two avenues away at 7th or 9 blocks away at union square - so it would be nice but its not needed.

i take it that you (Bob) want manhattan even more suburbanized? Maybe we can get an applebee's and best buy in there too, i mean the best buy is so far at only one block away.

By Anonymous at December 20, 2006 11:35 AM