NEW YORK | 135 W 50th St | FT | FLOORS

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/10...d-as-buyer-of-nyc-office-tower-on-ten-x/

Texas family revealed as buyer of heavily discounted office tower
Thakkar plans “something creative” for Midtown building bought on Ten-X for $8.5M


By Elizabeth Cryan
October 10, 2004

Poorvesh Thakkar, CEO of Thakkar, declined to reveal the plans for the property, but said the firm is preparing a press release.

“We will give more details soon,” Thakkar said. “We will definitely do something creative — that much I can tell you right now.”

This will be the firm’s first real estate project outside of Texas, but Thakkar said the family has been traveling to New York for business for more than a decade. The family owns a tax planning business in McKinney, Texas. Thakkar’s website describes the firm as a development consultant, not a developer itself, and lists five projects, none bearing any resemblance to a Manhattan office building.

https://www.thakkardevelopers.com/

[ChiND]

Unfortunately, “something creative” sounds like unfounded hyperbole for “nothing.” I guess the building will not be razed. Shmucks!

[NYguy]

[ChiND]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/10...ng-once-worth-332m-sells-at-97-discount/

The new owner may choose to convert the dated office building to residences or tear it down and build new.

[Crawford]

Tear that crap down! This site would do well as a hotel tower, or hotel-residential mix.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Tear that crap down! This site would do well as a hotel tower, or hotel-residential mix.

"Mr. Gorbachev: Tear down this wall [of garbage]!"

[ChiND]

Hopefully, we’ll get some positive news soon (ie., about a new tower).

[NYguy]

Another major residential conversion for the Times Square area….



https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2026/04...er-bought-on-ten-x-to-become-apartments/

Midtown office tower that traded in online auction headed for resi redo
Texas firm eyes apartments after buying 920K sf building for $8.5M

The Midtown office tower that turned heads with its rock-bottom sale on the online auction site Ten-X is poised for a second act.

McKinney, Texas-based Thakkar Developers, owners of the 925,000-square-foot building at 135 West 50th Street, is planning to convert much of the property into apartments, co-founder Sam Thakkar told The Real Deal.

“We’re working to finish up the diagrams and those things required to convert that building to residential,” Thakkar said, adding that early architectural studies show the existing footprint can accommodate between 550 and 700 apartments.

Now, the Thakkar family is betting on residential demand to reposition the 1963 building, which is 35 percent occupied, according to CoStar data. While the upper floors are slated for conversion, Thakkar said the building will likely retain a mix of uses, with some lower floors continuing as office space and the existing retail tenants remaining in place. The residential conversion wouldn’t require any rezoning, according to the Department of City Planning.

Ground-floor occupants include Singapore street food center Urban Hawker and Bobby Van’s Grill. Accounting firm Forvis Mazars is the largest office tenant, occupying about 89,000 square feet on floors 16 through 19 under a lease that expires in 2036, according to CoStar.

Thakkar said the firm is considering whether to tap into state tax incentives, which would involve designating a portion of the units as affordable. It is hoping to start initial demolition work as early as July, though the broader buildout is more likely to kick off in early 2027.

[ChiND]

It would have been nice to get something new here, but considering all the great news we’re getting these days, I can live with this.

[mrnyc]

^ oh geez i hope they leave the ground floor retail alone — thats the bobby vans/singapore urban hawker center building. i need my kopi c kosongs.

oh wait, the article sez ground floor retail will remain place — whew!

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...ces-eviction-over-unpaid-taxes-20260513/

Developer who bought Midtown office tower at huge discount facing possible eviction


By Aaron Elstein
May 13, 2026

A Texas developer who acquired a Midtown office tower for a staggeringly low sum may now lose the building after allegedly defaulting on its property tax bills.

Thakkar Developers acquired 135 W. 50th St., a 900,000-square-foot building near Rockefeller Center, for just $8.5 million two years ago. That was 97% less than former owner UBS paid for the postwar building 20 years ago, and the sale served as a vivid example of everything that had gone wrong for office towers since the pandemic. The 23-story building was just 35% occupied at the time of the sale, and last month Thakkar unveiled plans to partially convert it into apartments.

But Thakker’s hold on 135 W. 50th St. is now in doubt thanks to allegations that it has defaulted on $28 million worth of property taxes for the building, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by Safehold, the company that owns the ground underneath.

Safehold, a Midtown-based real estate investment trust, has moved to seize 135 W. 50th St. by terminating Thakkar’s right to possess it under the terms of the ground lease. On Monday it demanded in its lawsuit that Thakkar “immediately quit and surrender” the building.

Sam Thakkar, co-founder of Thakkar Developers, didn’t return an email seeking comment by publication time. And a representative for Safehold did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Safehold entity sent a notice of default to Thakkar in May 2025 and granted several extensions at the company’s request, according to the lawsuit. The landlord is now asking a judge to summon the city sheriff or a marshal to remove Thakkar from the premises.

Safehold, led by CEO Jay Sugarman, owns the land under several Manhattan office buildings, including 425 Park Ave., 685 Third Ave. and 195 Broadway. The company generated $115 million in net income last year off of $385 million in revenue, according to a recent SEC filing.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...nhattan-office-deal-collapsing-20260716/

Court denies Texas developer relief on debt at Midtown conversion project as eviction looms





By Aaron Elstein
July 16, 2026

“Midnight Cowboy” is a classic film about a Texan who comes to New York to seek his fortune and change his life but finds the big city to be more than he bargained for. A version of this tale appears to be playing out again in the real-life saga of a Texas developer who sought to make a fortune by converting a Manhattan office building into apartments but is now getting a tough lesson in the facts of city real estate.

The developer, Thakkar, is based in a Dallas suburb with a portfolio that includes a resort hotel in McKinney, Texas, and a multiplex theater in Irving, Texas. Thakkar describes itself on its website as a company that “collaborates with best in class partners to maximize [sic] and enhance client real estate development.”

The company made its move into Manhattan in July 2024 when it acquired the office tower at 135 W. 50th St. for just $8.5 million, a 97% drop from the last time it sold 20 years ago. The deal set off alarm bells across the city, with the New York Times deeming the ultra-cheap sale as “perhaps [the] most surprising sign of how the pandemic has upended the state of office buildings” and the New York Post calling it “a bonkers discount.” Thakkar planned to convert the 23-story building into apartments.

But this bargain now seems to be souring for Thakkar. The property was cheap largely because it came with an expensive asterisk attached: a separate owner of the land underneath the building. That landowner, a Midtown-based firm called Safehold, requires Thakkar to pay rent for 135 W. 50th St. plus its utility and property tax bills. It is not clear how much the building’s rent or electric bills are, but court records show the annual property tax bill is $17 million and that Thakkar has not paid it or an additional $11 million due. Thakkar has promised seven different times to pay overdue taxes on specified dates but has not done so, according to Safehold, which has recently moved to seize the property.

Thakkar is asking the courts for help but has so far found they are no more hospitable than flophouses were for Joe Buck in “Midnight Cowboy.” The company has offered to pay taxes on an installment plan, noting in court papers that such an arrangement is “legally permissible.” However, Safehold has not agreed, prompting Thakkar to ask for a court hearing. Judge Nancy Bannon nixed that idea this week, and the company’s next move is unclear.

Thakkar’s problems trace back to the difficulties it has faced trying to convert 135 W. 50th St. into apartments, an ambitious and costly project with plenty of risk. To make it happen, Thakkar teamed up with the most experienced player in the office-to-residential conversion scene, Nathan Berman of Metro Loft, whose conversion project at the former Pfizer headquarters on East 42nd Street ran into a major problem last week when city officials deemed it at risk of collapse.

The partners agreed converting 135 W. 50th would cost $380 million, and they would kick in $30 million of cash themselves, with Metro Loft applying its $12 million development fee toward its contribution, according to court records. However, the partners were still $21 million short of the $90 million in cash required for the project, court records show.

Thakkar wanted to team up with another developer to help cover the costs, but Metro Loft and Safehold moved ahead on their own and filed plans with the city buildings department, signaling Thakkar’s plan to bring in another developer was off the table. This came as a surprise to Thakkar, which said in a court complaint that Safehold and Metro Loft were working behind its back.

“Berman and Safehold developed a plan to terminate [Thakkar’s] lease in order to cut [us] out of the project to develop the property,” the complaint says.

Safehold contends it had the right to work with whoever it wanted.

[ChiND]

Hopefully, this site will be redeveloped with a new tower.