Harbor Group Int’l Acquires 55 Broadway for $157M

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

An affiliate of Harbor Group International L.L.C., of Norfolk, Va., has acquired the 358,600-square-foot Class A office property at 55 Broadway in Manhattan from an affiliate of Broad Street Development for $157 million, the buyer announced Wednesday.

The 32-story building was completed in 1983 and sits on the southwest corner of Broadway and Exchange Place. It features ground-floor retail, an urban plaza and access to four subway stations within a three-block radius. It’s currently 90 percent leased to more than 40 office and retail tenants.

The closing took place Tuesday and JLL’s New York office assisted the buyer in the transaction, a Harbor Group spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

“55 Broadway is a unique, modern class A property in the thriving Financial District near the World Trade Center development, the soon-to-be-completed Fulton Street Transit Center and numerous high-end residential developments,” HGI chairman/CEO Jordan Slone said in a release.

“HGI plans to implement an aggressive leasing strategy to take advantage of improving Downtown market fundamentals,” he added. “Also, HGI intends to reposition the street-level retail and mezzanine space to capitalize on the surging downtown retail market.”

Harbor Group decline to indicate a dollar amount for its intended upgrades.

HGI’s investment partners in 55 Broadway include Image Capital, L.L.C.

Though 2014 started out slowly, “leasing activity rebounded to end the quarter as Downtown continues to benefit from rising rents and low vacancy in Midtown and Midtown South,” according to a pending report from JLL.

“Downtown rents have risen the last two quarters to reach an all-time high of nearly $57.00 per square foot,” the report continues, noting that asking rents are highest in the World Trade Center submarket, at about $67 per square foot. This is despite three straight months of vacancy increases; average vacancy now tops 15 percent.