Select Editors’ Weekly News Roundup March 17 – March 21
Local stories involving big-time players comprised Connect CRE’s five most-read stories for the past week. Topping the list was a report on an unremarkable office property that sold for a considerable discount on the price the seller paid. It’s a scenario that has played out across the U.S. numerous times since the pandemic—but when the seller is Brookfield Properties and the haircut is nine figures, people sit up and take notice.
Brookfield Trades Manhattan Offices at $105M Lossrecounted the $150-million disposition of 333 W. 34th St., which the asset management giant acquired from New York REIT approximately seven years ago. Published reports identified the mystery buyer of the 286,000-square-foot Midtown Manhattan property as B&H Photo Video, which operates a superstore nearby at 420 Ninth Ave.
Despite the 45% haircut, Brookfield considered the deal “a win for both parties.” The company has plenty of higher-profile office properties in New York, notably its Manhattan West development nearby.
In the week’s second most-read story, it was the buyer that described the transaction as a win. Cold-storage REIT Americold Realty Trust bought a facility near Houston in response to being awarded a large grocery retail contract with one of the world’s largest retailers. We reported the deal as Americold Acquires Baytown Industrial Facility.
The acquired facility has 10.7 million cubic feet and is located in the Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, TX, the largest master-planned, rail-and-barge-served industrial park in the U.S. Sixteen acres of adjacent land that could support future expansion came with the acquisition.
Returning to the office sector, our third most-read story detailed an office listing in downtown Chicago—and also illustrated the change in pricing expectations for this property type. As readers of LaSalle Street Office Tower Listed for Salelearned, a joint venture of Beacon Capital Partners acquired 190 S. LaSalle St. at pre-pandemic pricing.
Based on recent sales of office properties, the JV could end up getting considerably less than the balance of the mortgage it took out on the 40-story tower in 2020. The property’s anchor tenant, U.S. Bank, is also its lender.
On the subject of lenders, we reported in the week’s fourth most-read story that a Blackstone JV aims to offload some of the debt it acquired in 2023 following the failure of Signature Bank. Blackstone Partnership Seeks Sale of NYC Commercial Property Debtreported that the JV wants to part ways with about $395 million of performing loans backed by offices, apartments and retail and industrial properties.
The Blackstone partnership, which also includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Rialto Capital, bought a 20% stake in a JV that held $17 billion of Signature loans after the bank’s collapse. Morgan Stanley and Maverick Real Estate Partners have since bought portions of that 20% stake.
A year and a half ago, Connect CRE reported that Hines was selected to build a stadium and mixed-use entertainment district for the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. This past week, though, we reported in $1.3B Rays Stadium Deal Falls Through that the Rays had walked away from the project.
The MLB team’s decision not to pursue the redevelopment followed Hurricane Milton famously tearing the roof of the existing Tropicana Field and county officials delaying a vote on issuing bonds to finance the construction. The redevelopment plan was in the works for nearly 20 years.
In contrast, for Connect CRE and Connect Money, the past week saw the launch of a new venture rather than the abandonment of one. It’s a new weekly column titled Treasury & Rates, written by our own Joe Palmisano with the occasional guest columnist stepping in. You can read the inaugural column here.