The Sorgente Group S.p.A., an Italian real estate investor, just bought a majority stake in New York City’s Flatiron Building, and announced plans to convert it into a luxury hotel.
Why does this merit a post on SFScope? Because the Flatiron Building has been, for a long time, the home of major sf publisher Tor Books. Publisher Tom Doherty’s office is one of those at the “prow” (the pointy part of the building facing the camera in the picture on this page).
Sorgente Group Managing Director Valter Mainetti issued a statement saying “With this acquisition, Sorgente Group has exceeded 50 percent ownership of the Flatiron property, with further possibilities offering up to 75 percent ownership.” The acquisition price was not revealed, but the building’s value is estimated at $190 million. The building sits on a triangular piece of property bounded by Fifth Avenue (on the right in the photo), Broadway (on the left), and 22nd Street (behind the building; the front is on 23rd Street).
Real estate company Newmark Knight Frank was the seller, but will maintain a minority interest in the property and manage it.
The Flatiron Building (named for its distinctive triangular shape, resembling an old-fashioned clothes iron) was the world’s first steel-frame skyscraper when it was built in 1902. It gained National Historic Landmark status in 1989.
The Sorgente Group also has a stake in New York City’s Chrysler Building, which was the tallest in the world for several months in 1930 (before the completion of the Empire State Building).
With no word yet on when any of the changes might occur, obviously, we haven’t yet had word from Tor on when or where they’ll be going. And there’s always the chance that Sorgente’s plans will fall through, and Tor won’t have to move at all.
Edited 29 January 2009: Tor Senior Editor David G. Hartwell tells us “Some of the news stories mention a ten year time frame at the earliest for beginning the conversion of the Flatiron. We are not anticipating anything soon.”
Agent Joshua Bilmes points us to this article from 2004, which notes that Holtzbrinck (Tor’s corporate owner) signed a 15-year lease while expanding their occupancy to 18 floors of the 20-floor building. It also reminds us that Holtzbrinck has had offices in the Flatiron Building since 1959.
Edited 1 February 2009: Reader Paul writes to remind us that the Flatiron Building, beyond its connection to Tor, has its own sf cred. To wit, it appeared in the recent Spider-Man movies as the headquarter of the Daily Bugle.