Three years ago, pundits were writing obituaries for Broadway's cast-iron retail corridor between Broome and Grand Streets; today, luxury fashion houses are fighting over every 50-foot storefront they can find. Kenneth Bernstein's Acadia Realty Trust has been the most aggressive buyer of SoHo street retail in the cycle, and its $41.5 million purchase of 476 Broadway from Stephen Meringoff locks in 48,800 square feet of through-block Broadway-to-Crosby frontage at $850 a foot. When the deed closed on March 9, 2026, Acadia Realty Trust (Kenneth Bernstein) had officially taken down 476 Broadway from Meringoff Properties ( Stephen Meringoff) for $41.5 million, with Newmark brokering the trade.

Look past the headline figure and the story is all about the basis reset. The 48,800-square-foot building last traded in October 2017 for $54 million. Stepping in at $850 a square foot shaves 23.1 percent off that prior valuation, giving Acadia Realty Trust (Kenneth Bernstein) a margin of safety that would have been unthinkable at the top of the cycle. Even better for the buyers, the in-place rent roll hands them a verified 6.30 percent going-in cap rate from day one.

Why Bank of America Wrote 60 Percent on SoHo Retail

The real tell in any Manhattan closing sits on the debt side of the ledger. To fund the purchase, Acadia Realty Trust (Kenneth Bernstein) locked in a $24.9 million senior balance-sheet acquisition loan from Bank of America at 60 percent loan-to-value.

That loan commitment meant the buyers only needed to write a $16.6 million equity check to control a 11-story, 1902-vintage SoHo asset. Credit committees aren't stretching to 75 percent leverage anymore, but when a sponsor brings $16.6 million of real cash equity and a basis of $850 a square foot, lenders like Bank of America are wide open for business.

From Our Desk

When we look at 476 Broadway on our placement desk at Light Tower Group, the lesson for New York sponsors comes down to the marriage of entry basis and lender selection. Acadia Realty Trust (Kenneth Bernstein) didn't try to fight the tape—they bought SoHo footage at $850 a square foot and paired it with the exact lender bucket built for this business plan. Money-center banks only write balance-sheet retail loans in New York when the tenant credit is bulletproof and the basis sits 23 percent below peak—Acadia checked both boxes at 476 Broadway.