Italian group eyeing Woolworth Building

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About The New York Minute Tidbits, tales and musings about the most looked-at real estate market in the U.S.

Italian investor Sorgente Group has set its sights on Manhattan properties, one of which is the Woolworth Building, Bloomberg News reports Nov. 3.

The group confirmed that it is in discussions with current owners the Witkoff Group Inc. and Rubin Schron to acquire a 51% stake in the downtown skyscraper, one of the oldest in the city. Witkoff, Bloomberg noted, bought the building in 1998 from Venator Group for $137.5 million.

Witkoff planned to turn the top 27 stories of the building into condominiums, but that plan was put on hold after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sorgente CEO Valter Mainetti told Bloomberg that the upper floors could be turned into a hotel or apartments, while the lower floors could be maintained as office space. Current tenants in the building include New York University, the New York City Police Pension Fund and the Paul B. Weitz LLP law firm, the news service said, citing CoStar data.

Sorgente announced earlier in October that it established a "diversified structure" that will allow it to draw on a variety of sources of capital. In the U.S., the group will focus on researching premium real estate opportunities available in the Manhattan area as well as on the Pacific Coast. Future projects include the establishment of a REIT.

Sorgente owns a roughly 51% stake in the iconic Flatiron Building in midtown Manhattan; the group could turn that property into a hotel. In addition, the group bought and re-sold a majority share in the Chrysler building between 2004 and 2008. Bloomberg reported that Sorgente converted a building on Greene Street in SoHo into luxury apartments and retail space and may also acquire a property on White Street in Tribeca.