L&L, Prudential Score $98M to Reposition Chelsea Offices
By Guelda Voien July 16, 2014 9:30 am
reprints
A joint venture of commercial landlord L&L Holding Co. and insurer Prudential (PRU) received $98 million from the Aareal Bank Group, a German bank that specializes in real estate, to buy three Manhattan office and showroom buildings, Mortgage Observer has learned.
The J.V. paid $160 million for 511-514 West 25th Street, buildings with class-A office, retail and gallery property, according to records filed with the city. The west Chelsea buildings were on offer by the Related Companies, part of a group of properties that the company has been unloading as it liquidates a distressed property fund, as reported.
Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) served as the exclusive advisor to the partnership, arranging the floating rate financing, a representative for the company said. The firm declined to elaborate on the terms of the deal.
The three parcels boast 193,744 rentable square feet together, with a tenant base that includes Target Corporation and Tesla Motors. The property is 92 percent leased, a representative for C&W said.
L&L principals David Levinson and Robert Lapidus have led their firm to invest in many other commercial properties in trendy (for office leasing, at least) Midtown South, such as 200 and 150 Fifth Avenue. With its proximity to the High Line, L&L’s latest acquisition should attract the tenants everyone is courting these days: nouveau riche start-ups.
“The ownership is very experienced at repositioning properties of this type,” said Steve Kohn, president of C&W debt and structured finance, who advised the J.V. on the deal with his colleagues Alex Hernandez and Alex Lapidus.
“The lenders understood the value-add proposition in this highly desired neighborhood within the strong Midtown South market,” said Mr. Hernandez added.
Representatives for L&L and Prudential were not immediately available for comment.
