Cayre Equities Buys 254 West 35th Street

Cayre Equities plans to turn a 16-story office building in the Garment District into self-storage.

The company bought 254-258 West 35th Street for $16.2 million this month, and expects to convert the 106,000-square-foot building. The property was owned by an entity tied to the Tekiner family, according to property records.

A representative for Cayre declined to comment further on the deal. Development plans have not yet been filed.

The late Sami Tekiner purchased the building in 1982, property records show. His family tried to sell the property in 2021, but took it off the market, court records indicate. Before delisting it, the family received five offers ranging from $30 million to $50 million, according to a report by Marcus and Millichap that was submitted as an exhibit in a lawsuit between family members.

Marcus & Millichap’s Eric Anton declined to comment on the litigation, but pointed to the rise in interest rates and the precipitous drop in office building values as contributing to the decline in the purchase price. He added that he thinks 2025 will see “stabilization and increase in values.”

The family has been selling off properties amid an ugly legal fight involving Tekiner’s widow and three daughters. One of the lawsuits, brought by daughter Yasemin Tekiner against her sister Gonca and mother Berrin, alleges that they have mismanaged the family’s real estate holdings, in part by selling five properties on the Upper East Side to Extell Development at too deep of a discount.

The properties, 1653-1659 First Avenue, 220 East 86th Street, 217-219 East 85th Street, 300 East 86th Street and 304 East 86th Street, sold for a total of $50.5 million. The lawsuit alleges that the portfolio originally had a $100 million asking price, but that Extell was able to drive down the price by citing issues with leasing records on rent-stabilized apartments.

Self-storage is a quicker and less expensive option for converting older, vacant office buildings than turning them into housing. Nearby, Flatiron Equities and self-storage developer Mequity Companies are planning to transform a Class C office building at 152 West 36th Street into a Manhattan Mini Storage.

Cayre Equities, which was launched in 2003 by Ken Cayre, has been active in the self-storage market through its brand Treasure Island Storage. Cayre runs the firm with his sons Nathan and Jack. In 2019, Cayre picked up a Crown Heights warehouse for $23.5 million and converted it into a self-storage facility.