NEW YORK — Brookfield Property Partners LP (NYSE: BPY) will begin construction on the $2.1 billion One Manhattan West, a 2.1 million-square-foot office tower, following the signing of a 20-year lease with the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Skadden) law firm as anchor tenant.
Skadden will move from Times Square to occupy 550,000 square feet of office space on floors 28 to 43 of the tower located at Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, which is the first of two commercial buildings planned for Brookfield’s five-acre development, Manhattan West.
When complete, the $4.5 billion Manhattan West development will include two new Class A office towers, retail, rooftop gardens, restaurants and cafes, and a luxury residential building, comprising 7 million square feet. A two-acre public park will cut through the site.
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, The Bank of New York Mellon and The Toronto-Dominion Bank are co-leading $1.25 billion in construction financing for the office tower. Brookfield is investing $850 million in the project, bringing the total cost of the project to $2.1 billion.
“When this building opens in 2019, it will be home to Skadden and other exceptional companies from New York and around the world,” says Dennis Friedrich, CEO of Brookfield Property Partners’ office division. “Manhattan West will then have established itself as a dynamic, vibrant mixed-use community.”
Skadden was represented in lease negotiations by Peter Riguardi, Kenneth Siegel and Matthew Astrachan of JLL. Brookfield was led in-house by Jerry Larkin, Duncan McCuaig and David McBride, and represented by Bruce Mosler, Josh Kuriloff, Mikael Nahmias and Ethan Silverstein of Cushman & Wakefield.
Construction began in January on the 62-story, 844-unit luxury residential tower in Manhattan West at 435 W. 31st St.
The Manhattan West development is located one block west of Penn Station and at the entrance of the Hudson Yards district.
Brookfield Property Partners is one of the world’s largest commercial real estate companies, with a diversified portfolio that includes interests in more than 100 office properties and more than 150 retail malls worldwide. The company also holds interests in multifamily, industrial, hotel and triple-net-lease assets through Brookfield-managed private funds.
BPY’s stock price closed at $24.31 per share on Wednesday, April 16, up from $19.22 per share a year ago.
— Scott Reid