Zar buys 1450 Broadway for $204M, mulls residential conversion

From left: Joseph Moinian, 1450 Broadway and Edward J. Minskoff

A partnership of the Chetrit Group, Joseph Moinian‘s the Moinian Group and Edward J. Minskoff Equities has sold the 42-story office tower at 1450 Broadway to the Zar Group for $204 million, according to Crain’s, and the building may go residential under its new ownership. The 400,200-square-foot building, on the corner of 41st Street, was purchased for $121 million by Chetrit Moinian and Minskoff in 2004. It now has a 14 percent vacancy rate, with tenants including BCBG and Iconix Brand Group. This is the first New York City office acquisition for the Manhattan-based firm formerly known as Zar City Properties, though Avi Zukerman, director of acquisitions, said it was a long time in the making. “We’ve always wanted to own a Times Square trophy property,” he said, adding that the team had looked at properties prior to the real estate crash but thought prices were too high. For now, Zar will lease the rest of the building, but the long-term plan may involve a residential conversion. [Crain’s]