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Joseph Sitt continues to expand his real estate empire.
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Joseph Sitt’s New York Based Thor Equities bought 218-220 West 57th Street for an undisclosed amount from David Steinberg and Jill Isaacs.
The two are children of Gilbert Steinberg, who died in 2008, the owner of Lee’s Art Shop located in the building.
Just last year, another developer offered $65 million for the property in a deal that fell through.
The four story retail building, completed in 1897, is located between Broadway and Seventh Ave, and has 21, 837 square feet of space.
It is across the street from a 1, 550-foot tall skyscraper, currently under development by Extell, which will be home to a Nordstrom.
The building at 218-220 West 57th is known as the Society House of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was declared a landmark in 2008 by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. As such, renovation possibilities for the site are limited, and it cannot be torn down for a new building.
Sitt is optimistic about the future value of the property, as the area continues to develop. He told The Real Deal, “With a series of luxury condos and hotels joining an already robust commercial market and landmarks like Carnegie Hall, West 57th is primed to become one of the hottest streets on the entire island of Manhattan.”
Founded in 1986 by Joseph Sitt, Thor Equities owns more than 60 properties in New York City alone, in addition to many more in Chicago, Miami, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Outside of America it has assets in London, Paris, Cannes and Mexico City.
Joseph J. Sitt, 50, is the CEO of Thor Equities and chairman and managing principal of the Thor Urban Property Fund. He was born in Brooklyn to a Syrian Jewish family and is founder of the retail chain Ashley Stewart, the name being inspired by Laura Ashley and Martha Stewart.
Last November, Sitt closed a deal to buy 65-67 Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris with the Israeli institutional investor the Harel Insurance company, for $343 million.
