$40m Vornado purchase.

A 62,000 s/f retail building near Union Square at 25 W. 14th St. has been sold by a joint venture of Mark Holdings LLC and Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P. to an affiliate of Vornado Realty Trust for $40 million--more than twice what the investors originally paid in 2000.

The building

Mark Holdings and Apollo paid a mere $13 million for what was then a run-down building in April 2000.

"The building was an empty gutted shell that we renovated and re-tenanted with Clay, a first class gym and spa, and with Guitar Center, the country's leading retailer of musical equipment and accessories," said David Schore, president of Mark Holdings.

Both tenants will remain in place. "They're under long-term leases," Schore said.

A Vornado spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment. The transaction closed last Monday, after a contract was signed in December, Schore said. The sale was typical of Mark Holding's investment strategy to buy old buildings and fix them up, although Schore said the company also purchases properties in good condition.

"We buy more stable properties as well," Schore said.

The building, built in the 1920s, had been unoccupied for four to five years prior to its 2000 purchase, according to Schore.