B4 • Friday, August 2, 2024
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Manhattan building sells at a 97.5 percent discount real time by auction agents. Floor-to-ceiling video screens ringed the space, splashed with images of the NEW YORK — In 2006, properties that are up for the hulking office building bidding. at 135 W. 50th St. in midRows of agents at comtown Manhattan sold for $332 million. Tenants occuputers were on phone or video calls with buyers and pied nearly every floor; ofsellers. In the last few secfices were in demand; real estate was booming. onds of an auction, the bids On Wednesday, it usually come in a flurry. changed hands again, in an The auction for 135 West unusual online auction — 50th opened earlier this for $8.5 million. week with a starting bid of The staggeringly low sale $7.5 million. On Wednesday, price of the 23-story glass with seconds left and only a behemoth that was once single bid of $8.5 million, a the headquarters of Sports gray box that read “reserve Illustrated is the latest and not met,” referring to the perhaps most surprising seller’s minimum price, sign of how the pandemic suddenly turned green and GRAHAM DICKIE / NEW YORK TIMES changed to “reserve met” has upended the state of ofafter that price was lowfice buildings in New York The building at 135 West 50th Street, where the office space is about one-third City, home to the largest ered. According to Ten-X, occupied, in Midtown Manhattan, July 25, 2024. In 2006, the building sold for central business district in the reserve price is gener$332 million. On Wednesday, the building sold in an unusual online auction — the United States. ally set at around three for $8.5 million. Several large Manhattan times the starting price. appeal and their value. office buildings have sold in est asset we owned” but “Nobody ever anticipated As the clock ticked down The building’s longtime recent years at steep disthat what has happened in to zero, the auction was exwas a “solid” property. the office market was going owner, an investment fund counts, some going for less “What’s shocking is how tended — three times — for managed by UBS Realty In- a total of 10 minutes and 30 than half of what the previ- fast the valuations dropped to happen.” In many ways, 135 West now that we’ve seemingly seconds. The auction finally ous owners paid, in a marvestors, had previously reached bottom, or close to 50th represents the myriad tried to sell it for less than ended with a sale price that ket that has yet to hit rock nondescript office towers it,” he added. was about 2.5 percent of $50 million, but that deal bottom. that line Manhattan’s He said that the latest fell through. So UBS Realty what the sellers had paid But office developers and sale price reflected the new streets. Built in 1963, the turned to a two-day, public for it. sales brokers in New York building stretches about UBS Realty Investors deonline auction on Ten-X, a City said they could not re- reality for Manhattan’s ofreal estate auction site. The clined to comment for this call another large Manhatfice sector. With companies half a block and has been occupied by major compa- property was listed alongembracing hybrid and rearticle. The identity of the tan building like 135 West new owner will be an50th that had been sold for mote work, employees do nies including the New York side suburban strip malls, so little. not visit the office as much Telephone Co. (which later motels and apartment nounced after the sale offiDavid Sturner, a develand most buildings are no became Verizon) and Zales, buildings. cially closes, which could longer considered safe inthe jewelry retailer. On Wednesday morning, take about 45 days. oper whose father’s firm For decades, buildings at the Ten-X offices in IrThe buyer faces an immeowned the building before vestments, he said. like it have made up the selling it in 2006, was Bob Knakal, a leading vine, California, 135 West diate financial challenge: stunned by the final price. commercial sales broker in backbone of Manhattan’s 50th was just one among The auction was for the booming office sector. But The building, he said, the city and founder of BK dozens of properties being building itself, not the land. today, they have lost their “certainly wasn’t the great- Real Estate Advisors, said, auctioned and monitored in That is owned by a publicly Matthew Haag NEW YORK TIMES
30-year mortgage rate falls to lowest level in nearly six months
Hawaiiana Management Company, Ltd. Serving Kauai’s Condo & Community Associations with award-winning service
Makailah Gause REUTERS NEW YORK — The average rate on the popular U.S. 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.73 percent this week, its lowest level since February as the bond market reacted to signs of cooling inflation. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5 basis points lower than a week earlier when it averaged 6.78 percent, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said on Thursday. It averaged 6.90 percent during the same period a year ago. “Apprehension in consumer confidence may prevent an immediate uptick as affordability challenges remain top of mind,” Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a statement. But, he said, data showing a moderation in home price growth and increasing housing inventory are positive signs for prospective home buyers. House prices increased 5.7 percent year-on-year in May, the smallest annual increase in 10 months as still-high mortgage rates then kept a lid on demand, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday. More recently, though, pending home sales surged 4.8 percent in June from a month earlier, helped by the recent increase in homes for sale, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday. Still, even with home loan rates now more than 1 percentage point below their peak levels from last year, mortgage application volumes remain subdued. “Many borrowers may be hoping and waiting for mortgage rates to decline even further, which is what we expect to happen once the Federal Reserve begins to cut short-term rates,” Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Executive Bob Broeksmit said in a statement. If inflation continues to cool, the Fed could cut interest rates as soon as September, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
traded real estate firm, which collects a monthly lease. But the rent from the building’s current tenants is not enough to cover those monthly payments, which are set to increase every five years and do not expire until 2123. 135 West 50th has more than 920,000 square feet but is just 35 percent occupied with office tenants, down from about 40 percent a year ago. It is one of the least occupied large buildings in Manhattan. “It’s a huge risk,” Knakal said, adding that the new owner might have to renovate and upgrade swaths of the building, at a cost of about $200 to $300 per square foot, to attract new tenants. The new owner could also opt to convert 135 West 50th into residences or bulldoze it altogether to build something new. But each choice is challenging or expensive. Razing the building and constructing an entirely new one would cost, at least, hundreds of millions of dollars. While elected officials have encouraged developers to transform many older Manhattan office buildings into apartments or condominiums, very few transformations have moved forward, largely because of the high cost. ••• This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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awaiiana currently serves over 60 residential and commercial associations on the Island of Kauai. Kauai native Sunshine Ruiz Hatto serves as Hawaiiana’s Vice President of Kauai Operations from its office at the Kukui Grove Executive Center in Lihue.
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Hawaiiana’s Kauai Properties: Alihi Lani Alii Kai at Hanalei Alii Kai II Aliomanu Estates Apopo Hale Emmalani Court Halaulani Condominium Hale Honu Halelani Village at Puhi Halemalu at Puhi Hanalei Bay Villas Hooluana Condo at Kohea Loa Hookena at Puhi Kahala at Poipu Kai Ka‘iulani of Princeville Kakela Makai Oceanview Kalaheo Pali Kai Kalapaki Beach Club AOAO Kalihiwai Ridge Kamahana Kapaa Shore
Kauai Beach Resort Kauai Beach Resort Association Kawaihau Sports Villa K.G. Enterprises Condominium Kiahuna Plantation AOBO Kohea Loa Master Association Koloa Garden Apartments Kuhio Shores at Poipu Kukui‘ula Kulana Lae Nani Lihue Townhouse Makanui Manualoha Paradise Court Pali Ke Kua Paliuli Pikake Pili Mai at Poipu Plantation at Princeville Poipu Crater
Poipu Kai Association Poipu Kai Racquet Club Poipu Kai Water Reclamation Poipu Kapili Poipu Sands Prince Kuhio Princeville II Community Association Princeville II Community Association - Queen Emma Bluff Princeville Makai Ranch at Halele‘a Princeville Paniolo Princeville Sealodge I Puamana
Puhi Industrial Park Pu‘u Po‘a Regency at Poipu Kai Regency Hule‘ia Regency Villas at Poipu Kai Sandpiper Village I Sealodge II The Villas at Poipu Kai Villas at Puali Villas of Kamali’i Villas on the Prince Waikomo Stream Villas Wailua Bay View Waipouli Beach Resort
For more information about Hawaiiana’s services, contact Sunshine Ruiz Hatto at 808-792-0515 or email sunshine@hmcmgt.com.