Zimmer or Romer Debbas represents UCP in $135 million sale of 122 East 23rd Street

Romer Debbas LLP, a New York law firm, helped close the $135 million sale of 122 East 23rd St., the building, owned by United Cerebral Palsy of New York City, Inc. (UCP). The buyer is an affiliate of the national homebuilder Toll Brothers. "It was an extremely seamless and smooth transaction,'' said Romer Debbas partner Sharon Zimmer, who represented UCP. "Both parties agreed to a few postponements earlier in the year, which worked better for everyone." The deal closed 18 months after the sale went into contract in June of 2013. Because this was a sale of a major asset of a non-profit, UCP had to get approval from the supreme court of New York. UCP had occupied the East 23rd St. property since 1973. According to Zimmer, a large portion of the proceeds UCP received from the sale of the 75,000 s/f building will be used by the New York City Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, Inc, an affiliate of UCP, for long term development and expansion of programs and facilities. The remaining portion of the proceeds will go towards the relocation of UCP's programs and services to its new location at 80 West End Ave. on the Upper West Side, where UCP is overseeing a gut renovation of the rented space. Zimmer said UCP of NY has signed a 31.5-year triple-net lease and is expected to move into its new space in March. The East 23rd property, that is zoned for 180,000 s/f of residential development, comes with 103,632 s/f of unused air rights and is located in a Midtown South residential neighborhood. The sale, which translates roughly into $750 a square foot, is one of the highest prices in the neighborhood for a building that size.