Vornado Realty Trust has announced an agreement to acquire the office condominium at 623 Fifth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan for $218 million. Built in 1990, the 36-story, 382,500-square-foot tower sits above the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store and was originally designed by Abramovitz Kingsland Schiff for the Swiss Bank. The building is currently 75 percent vacant and will be repositioned into a Class A boutique office building as part of Vornado’s broader Midtown portfolio. The property is located between East 49th and 50th Streets.
623 Fifth Avenue, via Cohen Brothers Realty
623 Fifth Avenue features column-free floor plates, dual street entrances, a sky lobby, and 24/7 security. Specifics on the scope of redevelopment work have not been announced at this time. Vornado expects to close on the acquisition in September 2025, with redevelopment completion and tenant occupancy anticipated in 2027.
623 Fifth Avenue, via Cohen Brothers Realty
623 Fifth Avenue joins other Vornado holdings in the area, including 280 Park Avenue, 350 Park Avenue, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, 640 Fifth Avenue, 689 Fifth Avenue, and 595 Madison Avenue.
623 Fifth Avenue, via Cohen Brothers Realty
Transit nearby the building includes the B, D, F, and M trains at 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, the E and M trains at 5th Avenue–53rd Street, and the N, R, and W trains at 49th Street.
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Someone still has faith in office buildings. I am frankly surprised that the pictured former RCA Building has not been converted to residential. The last I heard was that Vornado’s Hotel Pennsylvania site was in limbo.
There’s apparently a really complicated process to convert these office buildings into residential. When you look at the new Chase office building on Park Avenue, it’s good to see a lot of companies still caring about a modern and beautiful work environments.
Do the clueless interns at YIMBY not know that the cover photo they chose is not 623 Fifth? The photo is of one of the most famous landmark buildings in the world, 30 Rockefeller Plaza (30 Rock). Really YIMBY, you can get better interns
That first shot is the view FROM 623 Fifth. It must have come from the promotional materials sent out buy the renting agents.
Yes, ridiculous..Rock Center has always been a special place to work. When I was working at Simon & Schuster publishers during the 1960’s and 70’s at the International Building ( Atlas holding up the world, across from St. Patrick’s ) I felt privileged to be in such a wonderful, beautiful place.
First time here?
Hopefully Vornado won’t strip the exterior and turn it into another boring glass box.
Finding office tenants will only get more difficult as leases expire in surrounding office buildings. If there’s a predicted AI.com crash, along with the big beautiful tariffs, we are all toast.
Are you guys monitoring the proposed 90 story tower by Vornado/Stellar Management at Independence Plaza on Greenwich St. Manhattan?
Thanks for the tip, did a search and this is an interesting proposal. I’m surprised I hadn’t already read about it in YIMBY. Maybe I missed it?