A number of prominent families in New York real estate have decided now is the time to sell. The Rose, Malkin, and Resnick families have recently cashed out on some properties, selling buildings including the Sheffield apartments on West 57th Street, The Toy Center at 200 Fifth Ave., and the former headquarters of JP Morgan Chase at 20 Pine St. Fortune 500 companies, including Verizon, MetLife, TIAA-CREF, New York Life, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Citigroup, have also been selling corporate real estate, and nonprofit organizations have gotten in on the act as well.

Thousands of properties in the city are owned by nonprofits, and a number of them have decided it is prudent to take advantage of the sizzling market.

The chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, Robert Knakal, said: “As real estate values escalate, the motivation for a nonprofit to maximize their economic position become more compelling.”

According to Cushman & Wakefield, in 2001, nonprofit groups sold real estate valued at $147.6 million in Manhattan. By 2004, that amount had nearly quadrupled to $581.6 million. During the same period, the yearly number of property sales in Manhattan by nonprofits nearly doubled, to 32 in 2004 from 17 in 2001.

Last week, the Smithsonian Institution agreed to sell a 4-acre site in the northeast Bronx, the largest undeveloped parcel in the area, to the Ciampa Organization for $11 million. Ciampa plans to build one- and two-family homes.

Cash-strapped health care institutions were able to monetize assets last year. In August, Beth Israel Medical Center sold its Singer campus at 162-71 East End Ave. to New Jersey-based Garden Homes for $166.5 million. In November, NYU Downtown Hospital sold the parking lot adjacent to the hospital on Beekman Street to an affiliate of Forest City Ratner for $88 million. Last summer, Mount Sinai Medical Center sold a residential tower at 1200 Fifth Ave. to a partnership that included the Chetrit Group, Lloyd Goldman, and Stanley Chera for $62 million.

***

A number of nonprofits have been able to buy their headquarters due to generous contributions from benefactors. During the past 50 years, certain nonprofits have maintained offices in luxurious townhouses, which in many cases are fragmented office spaces. Last year, the American Jewish Congress sold its townhouse headquarters at 15 E. 84th St. for $18.7 million, and American Friends of the Hebrew University received $9.5 million for its townhouse at 11 E. 69th St.

Sales of nonprofit properties continued to surge in the first quarter. Massey Knakal served as the investment manager for the sales of Gospel Temple Church of God in Christ at 2056 Fifth Ave. for $4.5 million, the Consistory of Bethany Church at 214 E. 35th St. for $1.52 million, and St. Joseph Hospital at 159-05 Union Turnpike in Queens for $10 million.

***

The Archdiocese of New York owns over 2,000 buildings and properties, including more than 400 churches, 300 elementary and high schools, and hundreds of residences, office buildings, hospitals, and nursing homes.

The Sun has learned that later this month, the archdiocese plans to sell at least three sites: the six-story Kennedy Child Student Center at 151 E. 67th St.; a residence for girls at 54th Street between 10th and 11th avenues; and the three-story Cardinal Spellman School in Manhattan.

One of the most desirable sites in Manhattan for a residential tower is directly across from the United Nations on First Avenue between 44th and 46th streets. The Sun has learned that a nonprofit organization in that area has put its headquarters office tower for sale. Interested purchasers have the opportunity to demolish the Class B office building and construct a 240,000-square-foot residential tower. The nonprofit might be able to fetch close to $120 million for the site.

The American Cancer Society is purchasing a condominium interest of 77,000 square feet in a 58-story, mixed-use project at 125 W. 31st St. It will serve as its New York headquarters and home of its first Hope Lodge. The developer Sidney Fetner & Associates and the Durst Organization purchased the land from the Order of Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province. Three floors of the tower will serve as a residence for the parish of St. Francis of Assisi. Cushman & Wakefield has been retained by the cancer society to sell its 30,000-square-foot Manhattan headquarters at 19 W. 56th St. The property could fetch close to $15 million.

This February, the YMCA sold its 80,000-square-foot building at 610 Lexington Ave. for $32 million to RFR Realty, which plans to convert it into a luxury condominium. The same month, an investment group including Simon Elias and Izak Senhabar paid approximately $43 million – $400 per developable square foot – for Collegiate Church at 67th Street and First Avenue. The purchaser plans to demolish the church and build a residential condominium.

Residential developers are particularly interested in the Upper West Side. A developer is planning to build a 20-story residential condominium development on the site of a former community center next to Young Israel of the West Side on 91st Street between Amsterdam and Broadway. The developer purchased the air rights over the synagogue and the Plaza Memorial Chapel. A few blocks away, a 44,000-developable-square-foot site owned by a nonprofit religious educational institution will be sold next month to a residential developer for $13 million.

***

In this market, nonprofits should act prudentially and realize that their role is to serve charitable and community needs, as opposed to maintaining a facility in an inefficient location. Many nonprofits have sold real estate and moved to reasonably priced office space, resulting in significant savings in operating expenses. The combination of lower expenses and the profits from their sales have helped them create lifetime endowments and fulfill their missions.

Mr. Stoler is a TV broadcaster and vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached mstoler@nysun.com.