Manhattan’s one-time most mysterious building is up for sale for the first time in more than a decade.
RFR developer Aby Rosen, who bought spooky 190 Bowery in a private, off-market deal for $55 million from photographer Jay Maisel in 2015, tapped Avison Young’s James Nelson to offer the six-story property with 33,000 square feet of office space. The office floors and ground-floor retail are now 100% leased.
Maisel and his family lived mostly alone in the former Germania Bank building at the Spring Street corner that went up in 1898. Its ghostly appearance led many — even real estate brokers — to believe it was empty.
Rosen modernized its systems and restored most of its Beaux Arts facade while keeping lower-floor graffiti as an homage to the neighborhood’s gritty past.
No one would discuss how much 190 Bowery might fetch. But given that it was vacant when Rosen bought it, and its office floors are now fully leased to “workplace experience” firm Industrious at a $95 per square foot asking rent, it’s reasonable to expect a much higher price than the $55 million Rosen paid for it.
Rosen said 190 Bowery “is one of New York’s great landmarks. We’ve restored it with enormous respect for its history and architecture. Now, for the first time, we’re inviting someone else to write its next chapter.”
Nelson previously repped Rosen’s 281 Park Ave. South, which is now in contract to sell for $2,000 per square foot — one of several properties his RFR has unloaded in the past few years. RFR’s current Manhattan holdings include the Seagram Building at 375 Park Ave., 477 Madison Ave. and 15 State St.