Deutsche Bank snapped up the office and retail condos at the massive Essex Crossing mixed-use development on the Lower East Side.
The financial services firm paid a total of $221.6 million for the office portions of 180 and 202 Broome Street in two separate transactions, according to property records. It also purchased the retail spaces for $15.2 million.
The 1.9 million-square-foot megaproject was developed by a joint venture of Taconic Partners, L+M Development, BFC Partners, Prusik Group and Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Urban Investment Group.
Deutsche Bank’s Thomas Vasile and Andrew Mullin signed for the buyers, limited liability companies, and Taconic Partners’ Andrew Zlotnick signed for the seller in each of the deals.
The German bank is no stranger to the property. It provided $466 million in new debt to the developers two years ago for stabilizing the project’s second phase, which included offices, rental apartments and condos. The $1.5 billion development is made up of nine sites with more than 1,000 residences, 350,000 square feet of offices, 300,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of open space.
Deutsche Bank provided a $285 million loan for the Offices at Essex Crossing, the 350,000-square-foot office component of the project. It was a short-term bridge loan that the developers planned to use to build out Verizon’s space and finish leasing the remainder.
The partners planned to head back to the market for permanent financing once it was fully leased, but that hasn’t happened. Verizon agreed to lease more than 140,000 square feet of office space but never moved in and listed it for sublease.
The developer hoped to attract tenants by building out prebuilt offices across two floors of one of the buildings according to Commercial Observer, which first reported the office sales.
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It’s unclear what Deutsche Bank plans to do with the property. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment on the purchase. Taconic Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development also includes a subterranean three-block food hall called the Market Line that closed for good in April after failing to attract customers.