Carlton Group sells 56-57 Pine Street for $7.3M.

The property at 56-58 Pine Street, a 16-story office building between William and Pearl streets, has been sold for $7.3 million, announced Howard L. Michaels, chairman of The Carlton Group and Carlton Advisory Services, Inc., the division which brokered the sale.

The building will be partially converted to residential use on the upper floors, while the lower floors will remain commercial.

Carlton represented the seller, 56 Pine Street Associates LLC, and procured the buyer, Pine Street Mews LLC. 56 Pine Street Associates had purchased the 90,000 square-foot building on speculation from Hertz Investments II, with the choice of converting the structure themselves or reselling when market conditions were right, Michaels said.

Built in 1894 by James G. Wallace and designed by Oswald Wirz, the architecturally distinctive building boasts marble and terrazzo floors, three elevators and a renovated lobby with a vaulted mosaic tile ceiling. 56-58 Pine Street also has excellent light and air, and features full north, south and west exposures above the seventh floor.

The ground floor contains 4,400 square feet of commercial retail space. Floors two through seven house a single tenant, Track Data Corp., a public company. Floors eight through 16 will be converted into 60 studios and one-bedroom apartments that will rent for $1,500 to $2,000 per month.

Carlton Vice President Brian Weiss brokered the sale after protracted negotiations. Among its many attributes, the property qualifies for a 10-year real estate tax abatement.

"The buyer, 56 Pine Street Associates, has substantial construction and development experience going back several decades," said Weiss. "As such, they are well poised to take advantage of their first foray into the booming Downtown real estate market."

"This purchase is another example of how underutilized office space is being converted to meet the increased demand for housing in Downtown Manhattan," said Michaels. "56 Pine Street Associates and other Downtown owners have confidence in the continued growth and investment opportunities of this sector."

The Carlton Group, a national real estate advisory firm prominent in the real estate sales, finance and loan trading markets, exclusively represented Barcley Dwyer Company in the sale of 32 White Street to Hartz Mountain Industries, and The Gotham Hospitality Group in the blockbuster sale of six Manhattan hotels to an affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation.

Carlton has transacted well in excess of $1 billion in loan sales, financing and property sales within the last 12 months.