Manhattan Office Asset Lands $200M Recap

By Mihaela Coste

619 West 54th St., Manhattan

Taconic Investment Partners and Silverstein Properties recently announced the closing of a $200 million recapitalization of 619 West 54th St., a 330,000-square-foot Art Deco commercial building located in Manhattan’s West Side. As part of the transaction, an affiliate of Silverstein has acquired a majority interest of the property.

Dan Myers of Kassin Sabbagh Realty represented Taconic in the recapitalization and Evan Pariser of HFF represented the new partnership in securing $120 million in financing, which was provided by M&T Bank.

Located on a 0.7-acre site between Riverside Center and Hudson Yards, 619 West 54th St. was built in 1930 as a film-editing house for Warner Brothers Pictures and came to be known as “The Movie Lab” building. The 10-story asset features lofty 11.5-foot ceilings, abundant natural light, 33,000-square-foot floor plates, an office load factor of 27 percent and common area Wi-Fi as well as unobstructed views of the Hudson River and the adjacent DeWitt Clinton Park. Building tenants have access to a bike room, showers and on-site parking.

The asset benefits from multiple nearby options for dining, hospitality and entertainment. Additionally, Hudson River Greenway, Piers 92-94 and Gotham West Market are also within walking distance.

Taconic acquired the property in 2012 and has completed a $14 million repositioning of the asset, which resulted in more than 75,000 square feet of new leasing space. According to Yardi Matrix data, the company purchased the property for $112 million from KBS Realty Advisors. The transaction was subject to a $70 million loan held by HSBC Bank USA and was followed by a $12 million loan dated through 2015, through the same lender.

In 2014, the property underwent renovations, including a new marketing center, renovation of the lobby and elevators, improved common areas as well as accent lighting to highlight the building’s unique Art Deco crown. Taconic will retain leasing and management oversight, given their successful track.

Rendering of the available Penthouse

The building is currently marketing an 80,000-square-foot penthouse, with a dedicated elevator, large skylights and a private roof terrace spanning 3,000 square feet.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation recently opened their 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art life science research facility on the second and third floors, positioning the property as a new biotech hub. Additional tenants at 619 West 54th St. include MicroEdge, AAMI, The Rogosin Institute, Westside GI and Volvo Cars of Manhattan, as Yardi Matrix data shows.

“The building’s terrific tenants and prime location in the heart of the thriving West Side attracted us to this opportunity,” Marty Burger, CEO of Silverstein Properties, said in a prepared remark. “With the area’s continued growth and the building’s large floor plates and strategic positioning, this investment offers great potential for long-term growth.”

Since 1997, Taconic Investment Partners has acquired, redeveloped and repositioned over 12 million square feet of commercial office and mixed-use space, as well as more than 3,000 units of luxury and workforce housing in the New York metropolitan area, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. In the second quarter of 2016, the company has acquired a 14-story building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village for $106 million and plans to reposition the property as a Class A asset over the next 12 to 24 months.

Images courtesy of 619 West 54th Street