NEW YORK CITY — Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has purchased a 49 percent stake in One Manhattan West, a 67-story office tower in Manhattan totaling 2.1 million square feet. Brookfield (NYSE: BAM) and Qatar Investment Authority sold the minority interest to Blackstone and will retain a 51 percent ownership stake in the skyscraper.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but Brookfield says that the deal “values the office building at $2.85 billion,” which translates to Blackstone’s stake totaling just below $1.4 billion. Ben Brown, managing partner of Brookfield, says the competition for the acquisition was intense despite the uneven recovery of New York City’s office market due to COVID-19.
“The partial sale of One Manhattan West and the interest we received as soon as we put it on the market are clear validations that the highest quality office properties are seeing enormous demand coming out of the pandemic,” says Brown. “One Manhattan West is home to some of the world’s leading companies, and their continued desire to work from and grow in the building is a promising sign for Manhattan West and prime, well-located office assets broadly.”
Located on the corner of Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, One Manhattan West is leased to tenants including Accenture; EY; McKool Smith; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. The building is LEED Gold-certified and 2021 WELL Health-Safety rated.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One Manhattan West is one component of Manhattan West, a mixed-use campus spanning eight acres on the west side of Manhattan.
In addition to 7 million square feet of office space, other uses at Manhattan West include a Whole Foods Market grocery store; shops including Amazon and Peloton; Therabody gym; restaurants; a branch of City National Bank; medical and wellness tenants; The Midnight Theatre; The Rink NHL shop and outdoor ice rink; and an outdoor citrus garden called Citrovia. One Manhattan West was the first office tower to open within the development when it debuted in 2019.
Blackstone’s stock price closed on Monday, March 14 at $108.76 per share, up from $74.93 a year ago, a more than 45 percent jump.
Brookfield’s stock price closed on Monday at $52.13 per share, up from $43.52 a year ago, an almost 20 percent gain.
— John Nelson