According to sources familiar with the matter, Vanbarton Group has announced its plans to convert the Archdiocese of New York’s headquarters building into rental housing. The property, located at 1011 First Ave. in Manhattan, is set to be sold for over $100 million by the archdiocese.
Bloomberg reports that CBRE vice chairman Doug Middleton represented the archdiocese in this deal. This news comes after Vanbarton’s recent agreement to purchase another office building in Lower Manhattan and transform it into apartments.
Earlier this year, the Catholic archdiocese signed a lease for new offices at 488 Madison Ave., closer to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. For decades, their headquarters had been located at 1011 First Ave., but they have been considering selling since as early as 2017.
In light of struggling office buildings due to pandemic-related vacancies, there has been an increase in conversions from commercial spaces into residential units throughout Manhattan. Most of these deals have taken place downtown where many properties have faced high vacancy rates as businesses shifted away from Wall Street towards Midtown areas.
