Midtown-based investment firm Gaia Real Estate acquired the 50th floor of the Bernard Spitzer-developed Corinthian condominium tower in Murray Hill from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Gaia managing partner Danny Fishman told The Real Deal.
Pfizer, which bought the nearly 16,000-square-foot floor before the building opened in 1989, operated it as a corporate executive suite for visiting dignitaries and employees. Stocked with 21 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms, the floor is slated to turn into 15 condos, in the style of the rest of the 57-story, 819-unit property at 330 East 38th Street.
The sale closed yesterday for $14.6 million, just above the $14.5 million asking price when it hit the market in June. The listing, which was held by Halstead Property broker Julia Boland’s team, entered contract in September, StreetEasy data show.
Pfizer executives “used to travel a whole lot more than they do now,” Boland said. Then-CEO Edmund Pratt Jr. selected the site for corporate housing after observing it under construction from his office window, she added.
The units would range from studios averaging 560 square feet to four-bedrooms averaging 3,000 square feet. Prices have yet to be determined, Fishman said. The conversion is set to begin next month, with sales launching by the summer.
“We are dividing the floor into high-end renovations, with views and floor plans that are superior to other parts of the building,” Fishman said.
Architecture firm GF55 Partners was tapped to design the project, the plans for which are in the process of being filed with the city Department of Buildings. A gut renovation would result in new hardwood floors and open kitchens.
Building amenities include a gym, spa, pool, running track, sun deck and yoga studio.
Shelly Eilon of Gaia’s in-house brokerage, Park-River Properties, represented the buyer.
“We pursued a sale of this property as part of our effort to focus our real estate portfolio on essential core business functions,” according to a Pfizer spokesperson.
Spitzer, the father of former Governor Eliot Spitzer, sold the 186-space garage adjacent to the Corinthian to Gregg Reuben, owner of Alliance Parking, for $10.2 million in 2010, as previously reported. The Spitzer family had developed the tower on the site of the former East Side Airline Terminal.
In July, Gaia, along with Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services, sold Gaia by the Park, a six-story rental apartment building at 5 West 91st Street on the Upper West Side, for $27.15 million.