‘MONY’ FOR A SONG
Fire sale on Midtown tower amid office-value crisis
The Midtown office tower that inspired the 1968 hit song “Mony Mony” has sold for much less “mony” than its previous owner paid for it.
Yellowstone Real Estate forked over a mere $185 million — a massive $420 million haircut from how much the famed Mutual of New York tower fetched a decade ago — to purchase the remaining debt on the near-empty office building now simply called 1740 Broadway, according to city Department of Finance records.
Blackstone had shelled out $605 million to buy it from Vornado in 2014 — nearly $1,000 per square foot for the 621,000-square-foot 1950-vintage, Deco-style tower between West 55th and 56th streets.
A $308 million loan on it was sent to special servicing in 2022.
The fire-sale price reflects the crisis in the investment-sale market for commercial properties, where some office values have tumbled by up to 50%.
But 1740 Broadway’s discount was perhaps the most severe to date for an aged but still viable, recently renovated Midtown tower.
Insiders were divided over how bad an omen the lowball price is for future sales.
CBRE vice-chairman Stephen B. Siegel told The Post that Blackstone’s $605 million purchase price in 2014 simply reflected the mood of the time, when property values were at all-time highs and several Manhattan trophy buildings traded for more than $2 billion.
“Blackstone had a good plan for it, but things didn’t work in their favor,” said Siegel, who was not involved in the 1740 Broadway deal.
Facing exits by Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands and law firm Davis+Gilbert that left most of the tower vacant, Blackstone spent tens of millions of dollars to modernize 1740 with a new lobby, tenant amenities and a popular restaurant, Iris.
‘That’s gotta be it!’
But the pandemic doomed Blackstone’s re-leasing efforts, and it handed back the keys in 2022.
One major dealmaker said at the time that Blackstone’s “purchase price was bananas for an older building in the West 50s that needed a lot of work.”
Sources told Commercial Observer that Yellowstone is considering a residential conversion.
“The price reflects the value in that context,” Woody Heller, founding partner of Branton Realty and a longtime investment-sale specialist, told The Post. He cited “strong residential demand and the building’s proximity to Central Park” as driving a conversion plan.
A Blackstone rep told Commercial Observer the loss of 1740 was a “rare instance” that didn’t affect its $600 billion portfolio.
Yellowstone and Blackstone didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The tower’s legacy includes serving as the inspiration for Tommy James & the Shondells. The band was staying nearby when James caught sight of the giant “MONY” initials that were once illuminated in red near the top of the tower.
“We were about to throw in the towel when I . . . looked up and saw the Mutual of New York building,” he later explained. “I said, ‘That’s gotta be it! . . . It’s almost as if God himself had said, ‘Here’s the title.’ ”
Vornado replaced the MONY sign with one that said “1740” in 2007.