Isaac Hera is tipping his hand on plans for a Midtown West office property.
Yellowstone Real Estate Investments filed plans for a 422-unit residential conversion of the building at 1730 Broadway, the Commercial Observer reported. BKSK Architects was listed as the project architect on the plans filed with the Department of Buildings.
Neither company responded to the Observer’s request for comment. The filing was initially reported by PincusCo.
Yellowstone purchased the 520,000-square-foot site — alternatively addressed at 1740 Broadway — from Blackstone in April for $185.9 million. Earlier reports suggested Yellowstone bought the building’s debt for under $200 million, but no debt appeared in property records and a mortgage discharge document stated the debt was paid.
When Yellowstone took control of the building, there were rumors Hera was eyeing an office-to-resi conversion for the property, which went unconfirmed until now.
The conversion itself is expected to cost $34.7 million, according to the filing.
Hera’s firm has been picking up distressed properties left and right. In October, Yellowstone picked up an outstanding debt of $233.6 million on the defunct Midtown East Maxwell hotel, a 697-room property at 541 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, buying the property at auction for $140 million.
The firm also bought the loan on the New Yorker Hotel in September 2023 for $106 million.
Midtown Manhattan is rising as a destination for conversion projects. Apollo Global Management, SL Green Realty and RXR are working to convert the building at 5 Times Square into a 942-unit mixed-use property, while Rudin Management is eyeing a conversion of 355 Lexington Avenue.
There were 26 properties slated for conversion across New York City with filings submitted between 2020 and 2024, according to an October analysis by The Real Deal.
— Holden Walter-Warner