Soho Condo Residents Cash In on Their Commercial Space

There’s no right way or wrong way for co-op and condo boards to handle their commercial space. Some treat their commercial space like the family jewels, never considering a sale. Others view their commercial space as a jackpot waiting to be cashed in.

For years, one co-op on Crosby Street in Soho zealously fended off offers to buy its valuable ground floor space – until the numbers got so attractive that the shareholders agreed unanimously to sell the entire building, dissolve their co-op, and vacate the building. They pocketed a total of $42 million, and the building is now being turned into commercial space.

But there’s more than one way to dispose of a commercial space. The owners of the four residential condo apartments in a nearby building at the corner of Spring and Greene Streets have agreed to sell their ground floor commercial space – once home to an American Apparel outlet – for the princely sum of $28 million, the Real Deal reports.

The firm 60 Guilders, which held a lease on the retail space at 121 Spring Street, has bought the 3,200 square feet of commercial space.

American Apparel, which signed a 15-year lease at 121 Spring Street in 2004, announced in January that it was closing all of its U.S. stores and its main factory in Los Angeles. Once a popular fashion retailer that rapidly expanded during the first decade of the 21st century, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for a second time in November.

As of 2016, 60 Guilders had a $750 million property portfolio. It has frequently partnered with private equity firm Carlyle Group, including on the acquisition of 106 Greene Street for close to $100 million last year.