Jeff Sutton joined forces with venerable Manhattan landlord SL Green on one of Madison Avenue’s hottest retail spots on the Upper East Side.
Sutton’s Wharton Properties bought a stake in 690 Madison Avenue for $34 million, the Commercial Observer reported. Sutton acquired the stake from Marc Holliday’s real estate investment trust, which itself purchased the building through foreclosure for $74 million in 2021.
The acquisition gives Sutton a 50 percent stake in the retail building, which sits at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 62nd Street. Luxury jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels recently signed a lease for 7,800 square feet spanning all five floors of the property. The site was formerly home to a Hermes men’s store, which has since relocated nearby to 706 Madison Avenue.
Eastdil Secured’s Gary Phillips and Will Silverman represented SL Green in the stake sale, which was first reported by PincusCo.
Sutton and SL Green are repeatedly finding themselves in each other’s orbit in a business relationship that dates back decades. The two bought 1551 and 1555 Broadway in a 50/50 joint venture for $82.5 million in 2005; Sutton ultimately bought SL Green out of 1551 Broadway, where Sutton secured an two-year extension on a CMBS loan earlier this year as maturity approached.
At the start of the year, the real estate titan and SL Green sold the retail portion of 715-717 Fifth Avenue to Kering, the French luxury group behind the likes of Gucci and Balenciaga, for $963 million. The deal is on track to being the top investment sale of the year in New York.
Read more
Sutton and his partners purchased the property in 2004, bought out Stanley Chera and others, and brought SL Green in with a stake, which the REIT sold most of in 2012.
Sutton’s snagging of a 690 Madison Avenue stake comes as luxury retail thrives in the United States, driven by consumer demand for high-end products.