Korean firm plans demo of 576 Fifth Ave. adjacent to large Extell assemblage

The Korean apparel manufacturing and investment firm Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd., through an LLC, filed to demolish 476 Fifth Avenue, a 57,352-square-foot office building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 47th Street. It’s the only building on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 46th and 47th Street that developer Gary Barnett of Extell Development did not acquire in his 10-year assemblage of a potential supertall site.

The New York Post first identified the owner of the parcel as Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. in an article published in February 2022. The firm bought the building in July 2021 for $101 million under the name SJD, LLC, and at the time the buyer’s true identity not disclosed.

In 2019, PincusCo reported that Barnett had bought out partners and obtained $440 million in debt for the assemblage.

The applicant, Jae Kim of Sae-A Trading America, declined to comment. Gary Barnett did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There is no new building plan filed for 476 Fifth Avenue. The demolition application was under job number M00869454.

The property

The office building in Midtown West has 57,352 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 50 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,040 square feet. The zoning is C5-3 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 $28.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $60 million and was provided by KEB Hana Bank on July 12, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold by Severn Realty Partners for $101 million to SJD, LLC on July 12, 2021.

The 57,352-square-foot property generated revenue of $6 million or $105 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received four DOB violations and $2,100 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Midtown West, The majority, or 75 percent of the 75.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown West has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.5 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown West is the 2nd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 16.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 21 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 29 of the 41 commercial properties representing 1,034,134 square feet of the 1,198,913 square feet. The largest owner is Abc, followed by Alishaev Brothers and then Solil Management. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 8,632 square feet. The largest is a 4,790 square-foot mercantile (M) building submitted by Roger Merriman with plans filed June 15, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 3,842 square-foot mercantile (M) building submitted by Roger Merriman with plans filed June 15, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Sjd, Llc owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 57,352 square feet and a city-determined market value of $28.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single office property. It is located in Manhattan.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 578 5 Avenue, PincusCo identified 10 commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those 10 items, three were sales above $5 million totaling $114.1 million. The most recent of the three was Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management which bought the 33,922-square-foot, two-unit office building (O6) on 587 5th Avenue for $14.6 million from Infinity Collective on January 30, 2023. Of those 10 items, seven were loans above $5 million totaling $418.2 million. The most recent of the seven was Fatollah Hematian in which borrowed $75 million from Signature Bank secured by the 93,123-square-foot, 14-unit office building (O6) on 590 5th Avenue on August 19, 2022.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.