NYU signs 70-year office condo lease valued at $1.1B with Vornado in Greenwich Village

New York University as tenant signed a 70-year triple-net lease valued at $1.1 billion with landlord Vornado Realty Trust through the entity 770 Broadway Owner LLC to control the approximately 910,000-square-foot office condominium unit at 770 Broadway in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The expected use is owner occupied.
The deal closed on May 5, 2025 and was recorded on May 16, 2025. The property has approximately 910,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,208 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.)
The signatory for Vornado Realty Trust was Michael J. Franco. The signatory for New York University was Martin S. Dorph. Vordado as landlord leased the property to NYU as tenant for 70 years, until 2095.

The Real Deal first reported on the deal in November 2024.

Vornado announced the deal in a press release on May 5, noting $700 million of the $935 million in a cash payment will pay down Vornado’s outstanding loan. In addition, the leases with the current commercial tenants that remain in the building will be assumed. NYU, in addition to the $935 million, will pay approximately $9.3 million annually in ground rent. This lease only covers the office portion of the building, and Vornado remains the landlord to Wegmans in the two retail condo units, totaling about 92,000 square feet, the Vornado release said.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer New York University purchased eight properties in four transactions for a total of $354.7 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Vornado Realty Trust purchased five properties in three transactions for a total of $169.6 million and sold 13 properties in seven transactions for a total of $566.1 million over the same time period.

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 not received any significant violations 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 block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the two commercial properties representing 940,000 square feet of the 1,325,831 square feet. The identified owner is Vornado Realty Trust.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

All properties are office.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Vornado Realty Trust owned at least 55 commercial properties with four residential units in New York City with 15,490,385 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $6.7 billion in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and ING Capital respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 78 percent of the 15,490,385 square feet of built space are office properties, with retail properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 97 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 3 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that New York University owned at least 102 commercial properties with 3,052 residential units in New York City with 12,499,811 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.7 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 45 percent of the 12,499,811 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with hotel properties next occupying 40 percent of the space. The bulk, or 91 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 9 percent of the space.

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