Off-Market Broker NoMad Manhattan

NoMad (North of Madison Square Park) has become one of Manhattan's most sought-after commercial real estate submarkets on the strength of its luxury hotels, high-end restaurants, and boutique office space. Its position between Midtown and Flatiron is a large part of the draw for investors. NoMad owners often prefer off-market sales to protect the exclusivity the area is known for. Skyline Properties structured the $65M ground lease at 236 Fifth Avenue, in the middle of NoMad.

NoMad's off-market inventory includes boutique office buildings, mixed-use properties with ground-floor retail and hospitality components, luxury multifamily buildings, development sites along Broadway and Fifth Avenue, and ground lease opportunities. The neighborhood's historic loft buildings and pre-war architecture attract creative tenants, tech firms, and lifestyle brands, making properties particularly appealing to investors seeking stable, high-quality tenant bases.

Skyline Properties structured the $65M 99-year ground lease at 236 Fifth Avenue, one of the most significant ground lease transactions in NoMad's history. Getting a 99-year lease signed takes a different kind of negotiation than a straight sale, and a close knowledge of the NoMad market. Our NoMad track record also includes mixed-use acquisitions, ground lease structuring, and investment sales along the Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Madison Avenue corridors.

Ground leases come up often in NoMad, where families that have held land for generations want to keep it and still draw income from it. Given NoMad's location and its record of appreciation, a 99-year ground lease is often a better answer than an outright sale. Robert Khodadadian is known as a ground lease specialist, and our team includes Daniel Shirazi, Esq., whose legal background covers the structuring side of ground leases in the NoMad submarket.

NoMad buyers include family offices drawn to the neighborhood's luxury positioning, boutique hospitality groups looking at hotel and mixed-use conversions, private equity firms repositioning pre-war buildings, and institutional investors who want stabilized assets in one of Manhattan's fastest-appreciating corridors. Skyline Properties' buyer network includes qualified acquirers with specific NoMad mandates and the capital to close quickly on the right deal.

NoMad ("North of Madison Square Park") sits between 25th-30th Streets, Sixth and Lexington Aves. Hospitality-led revitalization (NoMad Hotel, Ace Hotel, Made Hotel) drove a commercial-property boom in the 2010s. Today NoMad commands a premium for boutique office, ground-floor retail, and ground-lease structuring on legacy land-only ownerships.

236 Fifth Avenue. Robert brokered the $65M 99-year ground lease in 2017, with Kaufman Organization as the operating tenant. It is the reference comp for NoMad ground-lease structuring (term, escalations, fair-market resets). Skyline Properties later brokered the $35M Kaufman Organization Haymarket ground-lease deal at 135 West 29th Street.

Ground leases separate land ownership (the lessor) from building improvements (the lessee). Typical NoMad ground-lease terms: 99 years, fixed escalations every 5-10 years, fair-market reset every 25 years. Lessor receives steady ground-rent income (3-6% of land value initially); lessee owns the building and finances/operates it. Skyline Properties structures both sides.

NoMad boutique office (40K-150K SF) trades at $700-$1,100/SF for trophy buildings on Fifth Ave, Madison Ave, or facing Madison Square Park. Larger NoMad office floorplates (rare) trade lower ($500-$700/SF) because fewer buyers compete at that size.

Recent active NoMad buyers and lessees include The Kaufman Organization (236 Fifth, 135 W 29th), Aurora Capital, Sutton family (Wharton Properties), boutique-office operators (Industrious, Knotel-successor brands), and hospitality-led mixed-use sponsors. Skyline Properties has direct relationships across that principal pool.