The Tiffany & Co. building on Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue has been listed for sale and is expected to sell for more than $40 million, listing broker Robert Granda told The Real Deal.
Records show a Madden family partnership owns the 16,374-square-foot building at 259 Worth Avenue. Granda, director of retail investment sales at Franklin Street, and Greg Matus, senior vice president of investment sales, are the listing agents.
The listing is one of a handful of opportunities to purchase real estate on Worth Avenue, one of the most expensive retail streets in the United States.
While the property is unpriced, Granda told TRD he expects it to fetch more than $40 million based on the location and comparable sales. The buildings at 150 and 151 Worth Avenue sold in January 2014 for about $2,000 a square foot; and 225 Worth Avenue, home to tenants like Brooks Brothers, sold for about $2,700 a square foot in late 2013. Since 2007, three deals have closed on Worth, Granda said, calling the street “generational.”
At $40 million, the Tiffany building would be asking about $2,400 per square foot. It’s also home to Mark Borghi Fine Art Gallery, which leases 1,618 square feet and 55 Croisette, a high-end French clothing boutique with 1,016 square feet.
Tiffany, which has been in the building since 1991, is leasing 11,081 square feet. The luxury jeweler invested millions into upgrades, including marble floors, steel doors and the Tiffany clock above the entrance. Tiffany’s current lease expires in 2018, but Granda said it has no intention of leaving. Tiffany also has a flagship store in the Miami Design District.
Worth Avenue, with more than 250 stores, restaurants and art galleries, has been compared to Lincoln Road in Miami Beach and now Brickell, where annual rents are pushing $100 a square foot, Granda told TRD. A report last year showed Lincoln Road was the 10th most expensive retail street in the country and Worth Avenue at 14th. (New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue again ranked as the most expensive retail street in the world, with rents rising to $3,500 per square foot in 2015.)
Other retailers on Worth Avenue include Cartier, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Graff, Gucci, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.
The building was constructed in 1950 and Madden Family Associates has owned it for decades, property records show. The Maddens want to sell now because of market conditions and for family planning.
Granda said Franklin Street is targeting real estate investment trusts specializing in urban, high-street retail and other investors who own property on Lincoln Road and Brickell. Potential buyers “understand these deals are not cap-rate driven,” Granda said.
“Worth Avenue is Worth Avenue. It’s always going to appreciate in value,” he said. “It’s almost like it’s in a bubble.”