<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=02OVKS_0vkng9YB00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=02OVKS_0vkng9YB00" width="1600" height="1000" ><figcaption>77 Water Street and Vanbarton Group founder Gary Tischler (Vanbarton Group)</figcaption></figure><p>One of New York City’s fiercest office-to-resi converters is setting its sights on Water Street.</p><p>Vanbarton Group is in contract to purchase the office building at 77 Water Street for $95 million, Bloomberg reported. The seller is a group of investors, including Sage. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and would break down to roughly $175 per square foot for the 542,000-square-foot property.</p><p>Vanbarton isn’t looking to restore office glory to the 26-story property, which has counted the likes of AT&amp;T, Goldman Sachs and Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard &amp; Smith as tenants or subtenants. Instead, Vanbarton is eyeing another conversion to residential space, which could create as many as 600 rental units. </p><p>Vanbarton and Sage declined to comment. Eastdil Secured, which advised the pending transaction, also declined to comment.</p><p>Richard Coles and Gary Tischler’s firm is no newbie when it comes to turning offices into residences. Late last year, the company launched sales at Pearl House, only a few blocks down the road at 160 Water Street. Rents for studio apartments at the 588-unit redevelopment start at $3,500. Amenities include a bowling alley and a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber.</p><h2>Sign Up for the National Weekly Newsletter</h2><p>To contextualize what may go into a conversion of 77 Water Street, it’s worth noting Vanbarton paid $165 million for the 1970s-era office building — the same age as 77 Water — in 2014. In 2022, Vanbarton secured a $272 million construction loan from Brookfield’s lending arm for the conversion of the 24-story, 533,000-square-foot property, which was still uncompleted before sales launched.</p><p>In 2017, Vanbarton converted nearby 180 Water Street into a 570-unit building, and in Midtown debuted the 300-unit Hollingsworth at 70 West 37th Street. The company has more conversions in the works, including turning a former WeWork space at 980 Sixth Avenue into 100 rental units.</p><p>Other notable conversions unfolding in the Financial District include Nathan Berman and InterVest Capital Partners’ 1,300-unit project at 111 Wall Street and Berman’s similarly-sized redevelopment of 25 Water Street.</p><p>— Holden Walter-Warner</p></div></body>

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Vanbarton finds next office-to-resi conversion candidate at 77 Water Street

One of New York City’s fiercest office-to-resi converters is setting its sights on Water Street. Vanbarton Group is in contract to purchase the office building at 77 Water Street for $95 million, Bloomberg reported. The seller is a group of investors, including Sage. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and would break down to roughly $175 per square foot for the 542,000-square-foot property.