Developer Michael Shvo and two partners have received the green light to convert the office portion of 685 Fifth Avenue into residential condominiums.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has signed on to manage the residential condominiums, which would span 25 floors across the building, The Real Deal has learned. The conversion would redevelop 100,000 square feet of office into 69 luxury condominiums, and is expected reopen in 2021.
Shvo partnered with Turkish development firm BLG Holdings, led by Serdar Biligili, and Deutsche Finance on the deal. The development has received approval to add five floors to the building, bringing the total to 25, the development team said.
A projected sellout for the project was not immediately available. The developers have been on the hunt for $100 million financing to fund the project.
Last year, Shvo and partners BLG Capital and Deutsche Finance America bid on the building, and locked in a contract for the same price Shvo offered in 2015, $135 million. The partners paid cash for the site last year.
The 1920s-era building previously served as the global headquarters for fashion brand Gucci.
Earlier this week, Tommy Hilfiger sold the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach to Shvo’s partnership for $103 million. At $1.24 million a key, it’s one of the most expensive hotel sales on a per-room basis in Miami-Dade County.