JLL Capital Markets marketing foreclosure auction of prime Fifth Avenue property

NEW YORK, Dec. 21, 2023  – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has been retained to market the auction of 5 East 59th St., a nine-story commercial building in Manhattan’s world-renowned Upper 5th Avenue retail corridor.

Built as the New York Playboy Club by Hugh Hefner in 1962, the fully vacant, 50-foot-wide building features 45,350 rentable square feet of flexible commercial or residential space. It will be sold at a foreclosure auction on January 17, 2024.

Remodelled in the 1980s as a bank building, the property has two elevators that service all of the above-grade floors and separate retail and freight entrances accessible from the front of the building. The property is currently vacant and ready for repositioning.

Located at the intersection of two of Manhattan’s most notable thoroughfares, 5th Avenue and East 59th Street, the property boasts exceptional street presence and visibility and is encircled on all sides by some of the most heavily trafficked retail destinations in the world, including Dior, Balenciaga, Van Cleef and Louis Vuitton.

Neighbors, including The Plaza Hotel, Bergdorf Goodman and Central Park, also generate year-round foot traffic that positions 5 East 59th St. as a world-class branding opportunity.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller includes Bob Knakal, Head of New York Private Capital Group, and Managing Directors Hall Oster, Clint Olsen, Jonathan Hageman and Vickram Jambu.

“With its unrivalled location, 5 East 59th St. presents a rare opportunity for an investor to own a property that approximately 42 million visitors walk past every year,” said Hageman.

 “It’s flexible zoning also opens the door to multiple configurations, from a jewel-box retail destination to retail-plus-office, or a full-scale redevelopment that capitalizes on the exceptional visibility, convenient transportation and prestigious Plaza District location,” added Oster.

The property is just steps from the entrance to the 59th Street subway station, providing access to Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station in minutes. It is also proximate to the Lexington Avenue subway station, which reaches the southern tip of Manhattan in under 25 minutes.

The public auction of 5 East 59th St. is scheduled to take place on January 17th, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. It will be held at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130 at 60 Centre Streetin Downtown Manhattan.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

For more news, videos and research resources, please visit JLL’s newsroom.