NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged the $252 million sale of the former AIG global headquarters to 99c LLC, a real estate firm specializing in adaptive reuse development in urban markets. The 31-story property is located at 175 Water St. in Lower Manhattan’s Seaport submarket and comprises 684,500 square feet of rentable space. Vanbarton Group was the seller.
The purchase represents 99c’s entry into the New York market following a focus on London, where it acquired millions of square feet of commercial office space. The firm is currently one year into a four-year plan to do the same in New York.
175 Water St. features 12-foot ceilings, 24,000-square-foot floor plates, center-core configuration and an efficient design. The building’s flexibility also includes an unused ground floor, which is being primed for a reimagined lobby along with two usable rooftop terraces with amenities. The building is completely vacant, following AIG’s move to a new location in 2021.
Andrew Scandalios, David Giancola, Vickram Jambu, Marion Jones, Steven Rutman and Alexander Riguardi led JLL’s capital markets investment sales advisory team representing the seller.
“175 Water St. received a generous amount of investor interest given the nature of the building, which provided a blank canvas to reimagine and reactivate the property as a best-in-class office tower or consider alternative uses,” says Scandalios.
“Downtown Manhattan and particularly the Seaport submarket are going through a transformative period for both office and residential uses,” adds Jambu. “Between the interest in this building and the results we achieved through this process, we think this transaction signifies the strengthening of the New York City office market.”
— Kari Lloyd