Aby Rosen’s RFR Selling Former Core Club Space

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The onetime home of Manhattan’s ultra-exclusive Core Club is hitting the market.

RFR Holding, led by Aby Rosen, is marketing the 34,000-square-foot commercial condo at 66 East 55th Street through Rudder Property Group and BK Real Estate Advisors, Commercial Observer reported. The listing comes with a $40 million price tag, or $1,176 per square foot.

The condo occupies the base of Park Avenue Place, a 45-story, 76-unit condo tower Rosen co-developed in 2006 with Davis, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. Between Park and Madison avenues, the space still bears the high-end buildout that made the Core Club a see-and-be-seen address for financiers, designers and power brokers when it opened in 2005.

Designed by Stonely Pelsinski Architects Neukomm, the interiors boast a screening room, restaurant, full commercial kitchen, library, spa, fitness center, outdoor terrace, and a network of lounges and meeting rooms, all of which appear to be included in the sale. Annual common charges run $158,000 and property taxes are around $862,000 this year.

The Plaza District asset could be a turnkey option for another private club or hospitality operator, a segment starved for premium space in Midtown.

“Trophy deals of this caliber will transact,” broker Brandon Charnas told CO, noting the scarcity of large-scale food and beverage venues in the area; Charnas is not involved in the property’s marketing.

Rudder Property Group’s Michael Rudder and Justin Harris are teaming with BKREA’s Bob Knakal, Ryan Candel and Tom Brady on the listing.

Rosen seeded Core Club’s launch, and early members included Stephen Schwarzman, Kenneth Cole, Sir Norman Foster and Roger Waters. But the pandemic upended operations: in 2021 the club and Sweetgreen, a tenant in another condo in the building, stopped paying rent, leading to a foreclosure action on a $25 million mortgage.

RFR ultimately refinanced with Signature Bank and settled the case in early 2022. Core Club relocated to 711 Fifth Avenue, reopening in 2023 before promptly sparring in court with landlord Michael Shvo.

Last week, a judge ruled that the owners of Core Club owe Shvo nearly $1 million, a decision the club vowed to appeal.

— Holden Walter-Warner