The former owner of an 88,000-square-foot building at 130 Prince Street has been chosen to manage that Soho property. The Kaufman Organization was named managing agent by Invesco Real Estate, which acquired the building in May for $140.5 million. The mixed-use property is fully leased, said Kaufman principal Grant Greenspan.
Back in 2007, Kaufman sold the property for $112 million — then a record-breaking $1,272 per square foot — to Waterman Interests and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
The building now houses such retailers as Lacoste, True Religion Jeans and Cole Haan, as well as offices for MAC Cosmetics.
Invesco and Kaufman have worked together in the past — partnering in 2010 on a joint venture to purchase Midtown office tower 100 Fifth Avenue. Unlike in that project, 130 Prince is not a repositioning, Greenspan said, indicating that the company intends to hold the Soho asset long-term.
Invesco, a Dallas-based investment manager, cited Kaufman’s successes at 100 Fifth as influential in their decision, in a statement provided to The Real Deal. Kaufman added a sleek lobby and a new telecommunication system there, later signing 100,000 square feet of space in a year, much of it to huge technology tenants, including Apple and Yelp.com.
The Kaufman Organization specializes in Class B buildings on Manhattan’s west side, Greenspan said, and ensuring that those buildings, often erected before 1920, remain in working order.