RXR Sells Stake in Manhattan’s 61 Broadway

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

61 Broadway, New York

New York—RXR Realty has sold a 49 percent stake in 61 Broadway, a 786,594-square-foot renovated office tower in Manhattan, to an affiliate of China Orient Asset Management, for $215.6 million.

JLL secured $290 million in recapitalization financing for the Class A office asset, which is situated in Manhattan’s Financial District. The lending group of Bank of China and SL Green teamed up on the debt.

“It’s a great pre-war office building that is extremely-well located on Broadway, set back from the street, and it has a lot of air and light,” Scott Rechler, RXR chairman & CEO, told Commercial Property Executive. “It’s both iconic and historic looking, which is something that appeals to lovers of New York architecture, but it also has 21^st Century efficiency and infrastructure on the floors.”

The building features a renovated lobby, high ceilings and great views, as well as quick access to several transit lines connecting to the talented and growing workforce living in Brooklyn, the rest of Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and the rest of the region.

“We repositioned the building, made upgrades to the lobby and elevators, and began to start turning the smaller tenants into larger tenants, at higher rents, and it was a period where it made sense to bring in a partner,” Rechler said. “Our strategy is to buy underperforming, high-quality buildings that we can upgrade for value and at the appropriate time, monetize a portion of the value.”

Current tenants include architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group and securities firm Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. Recently signed tenants include innovation think tank Human Condition Global, which took a full floor of more than 24,400 square feet, and data governance company Collibra Inc., which took more than 12,000 square feet.

Built in 1916, 61 Broadway is located within two blocks of four different subway stations, and within five blocks of the Fulton Center and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

“RXR is one of the best-in-class owners and operators of Manhattan office buildings and we are pleased to acquire an interest in 61 Broadway and partner with them,” Roy Chen, managing director & head of U.S. Real Estate of China Orient, said in a prepared release. “This investment is consistent with our U.S. real estate investment strategy, which has been to acquire value add assets in partnership with sophisticated and institutional U.S. operators.”

Vice chairmen Scott Latham and Richard Baxter and senior vice presidents Anthony Ledesma and Stephen Shapiro led the JLL team on the equity sale. JLL Managing Director Kelly Gaines and Vice President Aaron Niedermayer led the financing efforts.

Image courtesy of RXR Realty