Scholastic’s Secures $386M Sale/Leaseback Deal for SoHo HQ
Empire State Realty Trust has agreed to purchase the pair of adjoined buildings at 549-555 and 557-559 Broadway in an all-cash deal from Scholastic. The sale/partial leaseback deal fetched $386 million for the approximately 355,942-square-foot SoHo properties that house the book publisher’s headquarters. As part of the deal that is expected to close before the end of the year, Scholastic will lease back 220,000 square feet under a 15-year lease plus two options to extend for 10 more years, representing a downsizing from 10 floors to 6 floors within the 12-story building. Currently about 70% leased, Capital One Café and Sephora occupy the retail, and hospitality brand Convene occupies the 2nd floor leaving the 3rd through 5th floors vacant. Scholastic acquired the 243,442-square-foot 549-555 Broadway building in February 2014 for $255 million and the smaller 112,500-square-foot 555-557 Broadway building in October 2010 for $25.5 million according to city records.