Besen & Assoc. marketing two East 33rd Street office properties.

Besen & Associates, Inc. has been appointed by the owners of 10 & 12 East 33rd Street--New York, N.Y. to exclusively market and to sell two contiguous 12-story office buildings consisting of 22 floor-through office spaces and two retail stores located in the heart of Midtown South with easy access to Penn Station. Amit Doshi and Matthew Slonim of Besen & Associates are spearheading the transaction.

The two contiguous buildings located on East 33rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues are approximately 56,724 gross s/f in size including approximately 3,600 s/f of prime retail space and are currently 95.8% occupied.

Doshi, a senior broker at Besen & Associates explains "the offering provides significant cash flow upside in the short term as the current office and retail rents in the buildings are 50% below the market rate, and all but one of the 22 office tenant leases expire in less than 4.5 years."

Slonim, head of investment analysis at Besen adds "A value-add strategy for the property would be to combine the floor plates of each building to double the floor size and allow a lobby to be converted into additional retail space cutting down the low loss factor even further. The short term office leases also prime candidate for a conversion to condominiums."

The adjacent property is 325 Fifth Avenue, a new 50-story luxury residential condominium with outdoor space developed by Douglaston Development and Continental Properties.

Slonim continues "the immediate neighborhood is going through a major transformation. Close proximity to Amtrak, NJ Transit, LIRR, PATH, increasing market office rates, and the current residential development pipeline will enhance the character of and increase the demand for the neighborhood over the near term."