Man who bid $190m for New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building has yet to pay

New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building sold at auction last week for $190m after sitting vacant at 175 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for more than three years. The winning bidder was Jacob Garlick, a relatively unknown name in New York real estate.

However, after successfully making the winning bid, Garlick has reportedly failed to pay the required deposit to close on the 121-year-old building, meaning the building’s fate remains in flux.

Terms of the sale dictated that Garlick must put down $19m, or 10 per cent of his $190m bid by Friday. But, according to The Real Deal – a real estate news outlet – sources said he failed to make the down payment.

Now, a court-appointed referee could offer the Flatiron Building to the second-highest bidder, Jeffrey Gural, for his offer of $189.5m. However, Gural told the New York Times he has yet to make a decision about buying the building, which means the iconic structure could head back to the auction block in the coming weeks.

The public auction for the historic building took place on Wednesday 22 March outside the New York County Courthouse. Prior to his surprise bid, Garlick was known only as the managing partner at Abraham Trust, a venture capital firm based outside Washington, DC, that invests in private equity buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital, according to its website.

Standing outside the state Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan last Wednesday, Garlick told NY1 after the auction: “It’s been my lifelong dream of mine since I’m 14 years old. I’ve worked every day of my life to be in this position. We are honoured to be a steward of this historic building, and it will be our life’s mission to preserve its integrity forever.”

The Flatiron Building has remained almost completely vacant after its longtime resident, Macmillan Publishers, moved out in 2019. Since then, its future has reportedly been the subject of many disagreements among the building’s five owners – a group of several real estate companies. According to NY1, a judge forced the stakeholders to put the building up for auction.

Not only was Gural the second-highest bidder and Garlick’s fiercest competitor in Wednesday’s auction, he is also among the five owners of the Flatiron Building and its majority interest holder. “I was kind of shocked, to tell you the truth,” Gural told NY1. “I never thought that someone would bid so much for the building. It’s a beautiful building, but it needs $100m of upgrades. It’s basically empty.”

The last time the Flatiron Building was up for auction was during the Great Depression, when its owners defaulted on the mortgage. It sold for $100,000 in 1933. On Wednesday, the winning bid was nearly four times higher than the opening bid of $50m.

The 22-storey building has been a New York City staple ever since it was completed in 1902, making it one of the city’s first skyscrapers. The building’s unique shape, which was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, was originally called an “architectural monstrosity” by critics before it was officially designated a landmark in 1966. The Flatiron Building has since given its name to the surrounding Manhattan neighbourhood it resides in, the Flatiron District.

The Independent has contacted Garlick for comment through Abraham Trust’s website.