Jeff Sutton signs contract to buy retail next to his 720 Fifth Avenue

By Adam Pincus

Retail investor Jeff Sutton, president of Wharton Properties, signed a contract to purchase a small portion of the ground floor space fronting on West 56th Street within the retail condominium at 730 Fifth Avenue.

The twist is that Sutton co-owns the 89,357-square-foot retail condo at 730 Fifth Avenue through a joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management. The space he has agreed to buy, containing 3,974 square feet on the ground floor and a 562 square feet on the second floor, fronts 56th Street for about 45 feet and has an address that includes 5 West 56th Street. This space abuts the retail at 720 Fifth Avenue, a building Sutton owns. The new space could be combined to increase the ground floor footprint for 720 Fifth Avenue.

No price was disclosed in the filings for the purchase contract. At the same time, Sutton executed a lease with Brookfield (and himself) for the same piece he intends to buy. The lease will run for 999 years, or until the parties agree to terminate it.

The contract and the lease were disclosed in city property records on Friday.

Brookfield and Sutton own the retail at 730 Fifth Avenue, a condominium building with a dog-legged-shaped footprint that has frontage on Fifth Avenue as well as 57th Street and 56th Street. Sutton partnered with GGP to acquire the retail, and then Brookfield acquired GGP. Sutton did not respond to a request for comment.

Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch currently occupies the retail at 720 Fifth. The apparel retailer was reported to be considering a relocation, looking at space at 680 Fifth Avenue because its lease expires soon at 720 Fifth, the New York Post reported.

730 Fifth is divided into two commercial condos with Sutton and Brookfield owning the retail in the lower portion of the building, and a partnership including Vladislav Doronin‘s OKO Group and the Aman Group, owning the upper portion where they plan to develop a hotel and luxury apartments.