Manhattan’s next office-to-residential conversion could be coming to Midtown South, even if ownership needs to be dragged through the process.
Lenders for Orda Management’s combined 225 and 233 Park Avenue South agreed to a plan to convert the latter into residential space, Crain’s reported, citing a Fitch Ratings report. The conversion would essentially cleave the connected buildings apart and turn the smaller one into apartments, ending decades of the properties’ physical ties.
Fate is partly in the hands of the properties’ lenders after distress hit the offices. In 2024, the $235 million mortgage backing the combined buildings was sent to special servicing due to the proliferation of empty space. Orda agreed to a modification in the last year, contributing equity while a new mezzanine lender put up $150 million in cash.
A conversion is no sure thing. CBRE’s Paul Amrich, who represents the building, said Orda has “no current desire” to alter the use of the properties. Orda could not be reached for comment by The Real Deal.
Nevertheless, empty space has hollowed out the properties. The buildings combine for 675,000 square feet of office space. More than 500,000 square feet between the two is vacant after the departures of Meta and Buzzfeed in recent years.
Orda put the buildings up for sale in 2019, seeking up to $800 million for the properties it had owned for more than half a century. But the pandemic upended Manhattan’s office market months later, all but scuttling any plans for a disposition.
Assuming the city comptroller’s estimates for conversions, it would cost roughly $75 million to convert the 12-story, 170,000-square-foot building at 233 Park Avenue South, which has beneficially large floorplates and tall ceilings. Orda spent $140 million renovating the two properties a decade ago.
Several years ago, Orda and Related Companies sold a multifamily complex at 130 West 15th Street in Chelsea to Pacific Urban Investors for $185 million.— Holden Walter-Warner
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