Investor Louis Ceruzzi’s Ceruzzi Holdings has bought the ground under the iconic Lipstick Building at 885 Third Ave., where the now-incarcerated Bernie Madoff once had offices on the 17th floor.
According to a release by SL Green, which did not disclose the buyer, the pricing was $453 million, or about $713 per square foot.
Ceruzzi’s longtime broker, Christopher Peck of HFF, advised the parties and structured the transaction for the controlling 78 percent of the fee (ground under the building). Another party owns the minority stake. Peck declined to comment.
City documents show the July 2007 ground lease includes an option for the building’s lessee — or operator — to buy the land. The option can be exercised with one year’s notice on April 30, 2020, as well as on the 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th anniversary years of the lease, which ends on April 30, 2077.
The terms of that purchase option were not revealed but are significant enough to have prompted Ceruzzi’s nearly half a billion dollar outlay.
“If they exercise the purchase option, he makes a bunch of money and, if not, he gets a reset in the rent,” said one source on condition of anonymity. Ceruzzi assumed more than $267 million in financing and may refinance for a higher amount and rate savings.
Ceruzzi, a real estate dealmaker and restaurateur, has global capital partners eager to invest in his purchases.
Ceruzzi and Shanghai Municipal Authority are partners on the 520 Fifth Ave. development site that can host a 72-story tower now being redesigned by Gary Handel.
Building department records show concrete foundation work is underway for a mere six-story 115-foot-tall base with restaurants and retail space, but the final project is yet to be revealed.
“He is finalizing plans for a significant mixed-use property,” said the source. “Meanwhile, he will build an iconic retail box to capture the strong retail demand south of 50th Street.”
The tensions between the Four Seasons Restaurant and current 375 Park Ave. building owner Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ RFR Holdings are percolating over the names of the eatery’s iconic landmarked rooms.
Last year, knowing they’d be booted, the Four Seasons ownership, Classic Restaurants, trademarked the names of the Pool Room and the Grill Room, where diners have feasted since 1959.
Classic is owned by the restaurant’s popular front-men, Alex Von Bidder and Julian Niccolini, along with Edgar and Matthew Bronfman, whose family developed and previously owned the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed tower then dubbed the Seagram Building.
While the “Four Seasons” has been trademarked since 1959, Classic has also now registered the four seasonal trees logo and names as a “mark” so it could also be associated with prepared foods, such as Niccolini’s beloved pastas and tomato sauce, as well as cooking gear.
In early January, Rosen paid a visit to Von Bidder. “I thought it was pretty innocuous, but then he stated he wanted to use the names ‘the Grill Room’ and ‘the Pool Room,’ for sure. I said that will be a problem,” Von Bidder recalled. “We sent him a cease and desist letter.”
One thing for sure, Rosen said they won’t be using the Four Seasons name. “There is already too much brand confusion,” Rosen said.
A new name could incorporate the 375 Park address or architect Mies in some way, or not. Perhaps “375 Food Temple”? “That’s a joke!” Rosen laughed.
“The space is so dominant and so strong. Who cares about the name? It is about how you get treated. It’s how good it is and how it is designed and how great the food is,” Rosen insisted.
Last fall, Crain’s reported Rosen was seeking $30 million in increments of $300,000 to refurbish the spaces that include the Brasserie, which was operated by others and already shuttered, and get the restaurants up and running with Major Food Group’s Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick.
“We offered it to 100 friends and family, because we wanted to get both the old and the young people,” said Rosen. “Everyone wants to come in with us.” Most of the shares are gone while some are reserved by latecomers.
Classic owns the furniture, but not the fixtures that are parts of the Philip Johnson interiors that are landmarked, such as the metal beaded curtains.
Annabelle Selldorf will restore the two landmarked interiors. “One has a grill and the other has a pool,” Rosen explained wryly over what he calls the “descriptive” Pool Room and Grill Room names that the Four Seasons restaurant is claiming as its own. “If you have a room with a pool table or a pool, you call it the Pool Room. We have not figured out what we will call them.”
Peter Marino will redesign the un-landmarked Brasserie. “We said, do something fun and exciting,” Rosen explained, as the separate space can be completely reinvented.
Meanwhile, the Four Seasons, which turns off the lights on July 31, 2016, is honing in on its next kitchen. No matter where it is, LePatner Project Solutions will be the project manager and actively involved with the owners in the selection of the design and construction team and responsible for the buildout.
As Post colleague Steve Cuozzo reported in April 2015, the eatery represented by broker Michael Laginestra of CBRE was in “serious discussions” with the nearby 280 Park Ave., owned by both SL Green and Vornado, that has spaces perfect for its next chapter.
No comments on the location, but stay tuned.
In the summer of 2009, Ryan Foregger interviewed young Veronica Wieczorek for an internship at Lumina Films, then housed on the 8th floor at 231 W. 29th St.
The two fell in love, got married and then later that year formed Definite Films on the 7th floor of 147 W. 35th St.
With clients like Tiffany, Givenchy and Hugo Boss, more elbow room was needed for editing and filming, so the couple enlisted Richard Pugatch of CBC Alliance.
Among the buildings they viewed was the setting for their own love story: 231 W. 29th St. “The building was renovated, and everything is top notch,” said Veronica.
They have now celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary by signing a lease for 1,500 square feet on the 12th floor. The Kaufman Organization-owned property was represented by Sam Stein and had an asking rent in the mid-$40s per square foot.