Home, sweet Woolworth Bldg.

Lois Weiss

After four long years of waiting, the iconic Woolworth Building is finally moving toward a residential conversion of its top floors.

Steve Witkoff of the Witkoff Group, and a partner in the building's ownership that includes Ruby Schron's Cammeby's International, told us the only question is whether it will be a hotel or rental apartments. "We'll make a decision in the next 30 to 45 days," he said.

Witkoff said the top of the 57-story landmarked terracotta building has been vacated. According to CoStar data, the building's highest office tenants inhabit the 27th floor. Two other elevator banks serve floors 28 and up.

Permits to relocate stairways and elevators on the 30th through 47th floors were partially approved in 2007, but the permits for the entire $6 million job were finalized with the city's Buildings Dept. on May 2.

"Now, we are spending all the money necessary to do all the systems," Witkoff said. The building is already divided into an "upper" and a "lower" condo.

City records show a mortgage on the upper portion was made by Hypo Real Estate Capital a year ago for $9.7 million.

While Witkoff declined to get into a "name game," he noted, "We've had a lot of people come to us to do hotels."

But the owners are also deciding whether or not they should do it themselves as rentals because the after-tax basis "is better."

Residential consultant Louise Sunshine said, "Rentals would really work well in the Woolworth Building as long as they had a lot of amenities."

Sunshine is not involved in the current project but previously advised the Woolworth owners when they were contemplating dramatic upper-floor condominiums.

Recently, Sunshine had been discussing the hotel conversion of another landmark tower downtown but said the hoteliers weren't willing to put any money into the deal and it had to be funded entirely by the developers.

Stay tuned.

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While many bookstores are closing around town, Barnes & Noble has actually renewed its 22,178-square-foot lease at Muss Development's 70-00 Austin St. retail property in Forest Hills at the intersection of 69th Road. The asking rent was $75 a foot.

An added attraction for avid readers is a Starbucks located inside the bookseller.

The transaction was handled in-house on both sides with Stan Markowitz of Muss Development and Don Kuszmar, Barnes & Noble's northeast real estate director.

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The New York Compensation Insurance & Rating Board is expanding from 30,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet in a move between two Durst buildings.