NEW YORK CITY — HSBC Alternative Investments, Ltd. (HAIL) and Edge Fund Advisors (EDGE) have purchased the remaining 51 percent ownership interest in the 907,000-square-foot 1540 Broadway, a 44-story office building located in Times Square in Manhattan, from CB Richard Ellis Investors on behalf of HSBC “Club Programme.” Additionally, HAIL and EDGE closed on the refinance of the property with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
“Our purchase of the 100 percent ownership interest in 1540 Broadway represents HAIL and EDGE’s further commitment to acquire trophy office properties in New York City on behalf of the HSBC ‘Club Programme,’ said Mark Keller, CEO of Edge Fund Advisors, in a statement. “The purchase of the remaining ownership interest in 1540 Broadway is a great compliment to our trophy office properties 1625 I Street and 1350 I Street in Washington, D.C., and demonstrates our commitment to acquire superior real estate investments on behalf of the HSBC ‘Club Programme.’”
As REBusinessOnline previously reported (http://rebusinessonline.com/main.cfm?id=17&date=20101112®ion=Northeast), CBRE Strategic Partners Value 5 Fund acquired the property as a distressed asset in 2009, then repositioned the building and sold the minority interest in November 2010 as a way to realize a return on its investment. Keller said CBRE has been retained to provide property management and leasing services for the building, which is currently 92 percent leased to tenants such as Viacom International, Yahoo, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, and Xinhua News Agency.
“Since founding the HSBC ‘Club Programme’ 2 years ago we have acquired over a billion dollars in trophy office properties in the U.S.,” said Christopher Allen, CEO of HSBC Alternative Investments, in a statement. “The Programme provides HSBC clients with direct exposure to otherwise inaccessible opportunities globally; the strong take up from investors is certainly testament to the quality of the assets we have acquired.”
— Savannah Duncan