For the second time in as many months, it looks like New York’s Flatiron Building will be up for auction.
At the end of March, the triangular steel-framed structure underwent a intense bidding war led on the steps of the Manhattan County Courthouse, after its three majority stakeholders – ABS Real Estate Partners, GFP Real Estate and Sorgente Group – sued the building’s fourth and final owner, Nathan Silverstein, for launch a sheet music sale.
Led by Jeffrey Gural, chairman of GFP and a well-known figure in the New York real estate world, the group of majority owners was the favorite to take full control of the building. But after bidding back and forth, the consortium lost out to a virtually unknown venture capitalist named Jacob Garlick, who won the Flatiron for $190 million.
To secure his purchase, Garlick had to pay a 10% deposit, or $19 million, by Friday, March 24. The money never came, however, and Garlick relinquished control of the historic Fifth Avenue property.
That left the three majority stakeholders the chance to buy the Flatiron for $189.5 million — the second-highest bid — but they also declined, according to fear new york. Gural told the outlet that he “really hoped to buy it for a lot less.”
Jeffrey Gural [L] and Jacob Garlick [R] at the Flatiron Building auction on March 22, 2023. Photo: Christina Horsten via Getty Images.
Now the 121-year-old Flatiron will likely return to auction. It’s unclear when the event will take place, but auctioneer Matthew Mannion, who organized the initial sale, said a follow-up auction could take place in two months at the earliest. This time, Mannion’s auction house may require an immediate down payment, to prevent bidders from artificially inflating the price.
Gural and the rest of his group are expected to participate in the sale again as they hope to secure the historic building at a lower price. Garlick, meanwhile, still has to pay the $19 million deposit from the first bid.
Whoever lands the Flatiron will add a truly iconic piece of architecture to their portfolio. Designed by Daniel Burnham, the building was completed in 1902 and has since become one of New York’s iconic structures, largely because of the artists’ depictions. The Flatiron has appeared in famous works by Berenice AbbottAlfred Stieglitz and Edward Hopper, among others.
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