A group of institutional investors advised by JPMorgan Asset Management has closed on its purchase of 425 Lexington Avenue for more than $664 million, city records show.
The 31-story office tower was auctioned off by the international real estate investment firm Hines, which put the 27-story office building at 499 Park Avenue up for sale along with it, announcing last month that it had found buyers for both properties.
The JPMorgan deal comes roughly a month after the firm reportedly signed a 20-year, 600,000-square-foot extension at the building.
Hines’ U.S. Core Office Fund LP said last month that it had selected the institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management as the buyers of 425 Lexington Avenue; and an institutional fund managed by American Realty Advisors as the buyer of 499 Park Avenue, but the firm at the time did not disclose the sale prices, saying only that they combined for more than $1 billion.
The deed for 499 Park Avenue has not yet been filed with the city’s public database.
As previously reported in The Commercial Observer, strong second quarter for investment sales saw office property sales double from the first quarter, jumping from $2.6 billion to $5.2 billion, according to data from Eastern Consolidated.
A string of recent large office building sales, reflecting increased investor demand for safe, long-term bets, bolstered the trend.
The largest office transaction in the quarter was the partial interest transfer of the GM Building at 767 Fifth Avenue for $1.36 billion; followed by the Hines sales.
Recent news suggests that the trend will continue, as Crown Acquisitions and Highgate Holdings reached a deal last month to pay $1.3 billion for 650 Madison Avenue; Boston Properties and its partners recently sold 125 West 55th Street; and Time Warner’s headquarters could soon become vacant.
