Owner of Houston-based Landry’s buys Keens Steakhouse Garment District building for $30M

UPDATED 12:30 p.m., November 21, 2024: Tilman Fertitta, who owns the Houston-based dining and entertainment company Landry’s, through the entity 2425 Project Owner LLC paid $30 million to the estate of George Schwarz, which owns Keens Steakhouse, through the entity 72 West 36th Street, L.L.C. for the mixed-use building (K4) at 72 West 36th Street in Garment District, Manhattan.
The building is the home to the steakhouse founded in 1885.
A spokesperson for Landry’s noted that Keens Steakhouse was, “previously owned by Dr. George Schwarz and ultimately his estate since his passing in 2016 and has been managed and operated by its employees lead by General Manager Bonnie Jenkins, also a Trustee of the estate.”

Jenkins, in a statement to PincusCo, said, “We looked for a buyer that agreed to allow our team to continue to operate and manage Keens in the same tradition it has been for the past 140 years. I believe George would be happy to know that our new owner, Tilman Fertitta [CEO of Landry’s], is committed to maintaining the legacy of our historic brand. Keen’s is one of Manhattan’s oldest steakhouses and one of the most unique dining experiences in all of New York City. Tilman appreciates our old-world charm and unique museum like dining experience, and I am grateful that we will continue to serve our community and visitors from all over the world while preserving our iconic restaurant for years to come.”

The deal closed on November 15, 2024 and was recorded on November 21, 2024. The property has 16,000 square feet of built space and 36,574 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 52,550 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,875 and the price per buildable square foot is $570 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)

Keens Chophouse was founded in 1885 by Albert Keen, a theater producer. Jesse Z. Fink as executor of the estate of George Schwarz, signed for a $25 million loan in September 2017, about 10 months after Schwarz died. Schwarz died in December 2016. Fink also signed on behalf of the estate in this sale. Steven L. Scheinthal, in-house counsel for Landry’s, signed on behalf of the buyer, Tilman Fertitta.

A spokesperson said Tilman Fertitta, as an individual, bought the building.

The property

The parcel has three buildings with frontage of 62 feet and is 98 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,255 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C6-6 which allows for up to 15 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5.6 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $700 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Garment District, The majority, or 69 percent of the 52.3 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space. In sales, Garment District has 3.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $858 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. For development, Garment District is the 5th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 7.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 14 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other mixed-use buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 17 of the 33 commercial properties representing 971,399 square feet of the 1,436,912 square feet. The largest owner is Dong Yin Development (Holdings) Limited, followed by Hilson Management and then Aju Hotels Investments.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 1.4 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 43 percent of the space.

Correction: Tilman Fertitta bought the building as an individual, the company Landry’s did not purchase it. The story was also updated with a statement on behalf of Fertitta.

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