Nightingale Properties in Contract to Buy Coca-Cola Building for $907M
By Cathy Cunningham May 6, 2019 6:06 pm
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Well, now it’s officially “the real thing.”
Nightingale Properties has entered into a contract to acquire 711 Fifth Avenue, also known as the Coca-Cola building, for $907 million, multiple sources confirmed to Commercial Observer today.
The landlord has an ‘undisclosed partner’ in the deal, which sources said is Wafra Group. Officials at Wafra Group could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Real Deal first reported that Nightingale was in late stage talks to purchase the 17-story, office and retail building from The Coca-Cola Company for more than $900 million in April. The deal is officially now in contract, although an expected close date couldn’t immediately be ascertained.
The deal on the 354,000-square-foot property works out at $2,562 per square foot.
The Beaux Arts office building was designed by Floyd Brown in 1927 and served as NBC’s headquarters until 1933, when the network moved to Rockefeller Center and Columbia Pictures moved into the property. Coca-Cola purchased the building—on the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and East 55th Street—in 1983 as part of its acquisition of Columbia Pictures. Last year, the beverages company determined that it didn’t need to retain its investment in it in order to support its activities in New York City and decided to put the property on the market.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Doug Harmon, Adam Spies and Kevin Donner led the sale. “711 Fifth Ave. is one of Manhattan’s best kept secrets, a premier boutique gem with a rich history that dates back to 1927,” Harmon said of the property in a C&W announcement regarding the sale in December 2018.
TRD reported that Nightingale’s strategy for the property could be to negotiate with Ralph Lauren and Breguet—which lease 28,335 square feet and 4,028 square feet respectively at the property until 2029 but no longer have stores there—to buy out the remaining term on their leases.
Officials at C&W and and Coca-Cola declined to comment. Officials at Nightingale Properties did not return a request for comment.
