Catholic Archdiocese Agrees to Sell 1st Ave HQ for over $100M; Needs Fund to Pay for Sex Abuse Crisis

The Roman Catholic Archdioces of New York confirmed to Our Town that it has reached an agreement to sell its 20-story headquarters on First Ave. to a developer, who reportedly plans a residential conversion.

The buyer of the 20-story building at 1011 First Ave between E. 55th St. and E. 56th St.–which is known at the Cardinal Terrence Cooke Center and has house the Archdiocese HQ since 1973–was identified as the Vanbarton Group, according to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the news. The multi-national real estate developer has plans to convert the 400,000 sq. ft. office space into residential units.

In a somewhat surprising admission from the Archdiocese, spokesman Joseph Zwilling said the proceeds from the sale “will be used to ease the financial burden from the sex abuse crisis.”

Currently, the Archdiocese is embroiled in a bitter dispute with Chubb Insurance, which is trying to avoid paying legal settlements in the 1,500 sexual abuse claims pending against the Archdiocese, some of which stretch back to the 1930s.

Chubb won a lower court case in which it maintained that it should not have to pay the claims because the Church knew about the sexual abuse but did nothing to stop it.

The Archdiocese sued Chubb and in April a five judge New York State Appeals Court overturned the lower court ruling that went in favor of the insurance giant, allowing the archdiocese to resume its lawsuit to try to get Chubb to cover the mounting costs.

Unrelated, the archdiocese in late 2023 sold the air rights over St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Ken Griffin’’s Citadel Group and Steve Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust for up to $164 million. In that deal, the archdiocese said the funds were going to be used for the upkeep of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The developers at the time were planning to use the air rights to build a new office skyscraper.

The latest deal would make it one of the larger residential conversions uptown, where there is a glut of unused commercial office in the post pandemic world.

Vanbarton has executed a number of recent residential upgrades or conversions in both downtown and midtown.

For the most part in Manhattan, office-to-residential conversions have been concentrated downtown. The Downtown Alliance recently said that there are current plans on the drawing boards to convert nearly 700,000 sq. ft. of downtown office space into residential units.

Vanbarton’s web site lists the Howell at 84 William St. that was recently converted into a 137-unit market rate boutique multifamily building with 3,300 Square feet of retail space located in the heart of the Financial District. The property previously operated as an extended-stay hotel and now hosts studios, one and two bedroom units and penthouse units.

Vanbarton Group has also upgraded 24-story Hollingsworth a 380-unit luxury mixed-use that takes up an entire block between W. 37th and W. 36th Streets, at 980 Sixth Ave.

The building, once known as the Vogue, was rechristened The Hollingsworth around the time Vanbarton Group paid $316 million to acquire it in 2018. Two years later, just as COVID was setting in, Vanbarton Group secured a $240 million refinancing from Blackstone. The reconfiguration that was completed the following year, added 60 residential units to make 380 units in total, repositioned the lobby entrance from busy Sixth Ave to W. 37th St. and added a roof deck and fitness center among other upscale amenities. It also upgraded the office and retail components which took up the first three stories of the building.

Vanbarton Group is not yet forthcoming on its plans for 1011 First Ave. but if it follows its past formula, it will be luxury housing sitting atop some commercial space. Calls to Vanbarton were not returned by presstime.

The Archdiocese plans to move to new quarters at 480 Madison Ave. taking up about half the office space of its current HQ in a landmarked building across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

But not everyone currently housed at 1011 First Ave. will fit into the new space.

“Many of our offices will be moving to smaller space at 488 Madison Avenue in late Spring/early Summer of 2025,” spokesperson Zwilling. “Those offices are currently being renovated and prepared,” he said. “Other offices will be housed at other property, including church property throughout the archdiocese; those details are still being finalized.”