Tavros Capital Set to Buy Beleaguered 250 Water Street Site

Seaport Entertainment Group is taking a haircut on the development site for the controversial Seaport Tower.

Tavros Capital is in contract to purchase the site at 250 Water Street for $150.5 million from Seaport Entertainment Group, Bisnow reported. This is an about-face for the seller, which last year spun off from Howard Hughes Holding in a deal backed by billionaire Bill Ackman, after it sunk $220 million into the purchase and air rights and spent years tied up in legal wrangling over the site.

SEG President and CEO Anton Nikodemus said in a statement that the sale would “support new sustainable growth opportunities and create long-term value for our shareholders.”

Howard Hughes bought the site for $180 million in 2018 after the previous owner, the Milstein family, repeatedly failed to secure building approval. Hughes pledged to pay $40 million for 234,630 square feet of air rights for the South Street Seaport Museum, and shortly after that got building approval. But this deal soon became a point of contention.

In 2022, the South Street Seaport Coalition, a community preservation group, filed a lawsuit challenging the Landmark Preservation Commission’s approval. A judge voided that approval in 2023, citing the air rights deal as “impermissible quid pro quo” between the developer and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. That decision was reversed about six months later and the court declined to hear an appeal from the preservationist group, allowing the developer to finally proceed with construction.

The firm cleared another hurdle when the 421a construction completion deadline was extended to 2031, allowing the development to receive the crucial tax abatement it needed for the deal, which included 399 units with 100 designated affordable, to pencil out.

Nevertheless, SEG announced its intention to sell the site back in March. JLL’s Andrew Scandalios, Ethan Stanton and Nicco Lupo represented the firm in this deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year.

Nearby, the firm recently signed a 20 year, 75,000 square foot lease with immersive art exhibitor Meow Wolf at Pier 17.

– Quinn Waller