Brookfield is shopping a 30-story rental tower in Manhattan’s Financial District with an asking price of roughly $105 million, according to an offering memo reviewed by reporters. The company placed the 156-unit building at 15 Cliff Street on the market, signaling a potential shift in its downtown New York holdings.
The 154,000-square-foot tower, completed in 2001, rents at an average of $90 per square foot. About 97 percent of the units are currently leased, with two-bedroom apartments listed for as much as $6,976 per month, according to rental listings.
Representatives for the firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Eastdil Secured’s Gary Phillips, Daniel Parker and Will Silverman are marketing the property. They declined to comment on the sale process.
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It acquired the property in 2018 as part of a much larger transaction — a $1.9 billion, multi-state portfolio purchase from Carmel Partners, the San Francisco-based multifamily developer led by Ron Zeff. The Cliff Street tower was one of seven properties in that deal; the others were located in California and Hawaii.
Before the company owned it, the property lived several lives.
It originally served as a New York University dormitory. Then Lake Success, N.Y.-based Lalezarian Properties bought it from Rockrose Development in 2007 for about $60 million and converted it into apartments.
The property includes 6,500 square feet of commercial space and standard amenities: a fitness center, lounge, and roof deck. Nothing about the structure screams luxury, but its location in the FiDi rental market is working in its favor. The neighborhood has been slowly shedding its reputation as a quiet office district and turning into a place where people actually live full-time.
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It’s not entirely clear why the firm is selling now.
Rental demand in the Financial District is being driven largely by younger residents. Roughly a third of Lower Manhattan’s population falls in the 18-to-35 age bracket, according to neighborhood data. While a recent wave of new condominiums has sat on the market longer than expected, rental units have absorbed demand more easily.
Median rents in the area have climbed substantially over the last year. RentCafe data shows the average apartment now goes for $5,957, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. About 75 percent of households in the neighborhood are renter-occupied, which helps explain why a 97-percent-leased tower might fetch a premium price.
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Some units may not have the layouts that modern renters expect.
The property’s history as a dormitory-turned-apartment complex gives it an unusual floor plan compared to newer towers. But with occupancy near full and rents rising, those quirks haven’t hurt performance.
Whether a buyer emerges at that price will depend on how the market views the Financial District’s trajectory. The neighborhood has more restaurants, grocery stores, and bars than it did a decade ago, but it still empties out on weekends in ways that other parts of Manhattan don’t. For now, the rental numbers look strong enough to attract interest.