Rockwood/Jamestown Partnership Buys Fifth Ave Tower for $595M

A partnership between Rockwood Capital, Jamestown, Murray Hill Properties, and Crown Acquisitions announced this week that it had agreed to purchase 530 Fifth Avenue in NYC from a partnership led by Thor Equities for $595 million. While full terms of the partnership and deal were not disclosed, Eastdil represented the selling group in the transaction, expected to close in September. The 26-story contains roughly 480,000 square feet of office space with another 55,000 allocated for retail. Major tenants include Desigual, JPMorgan Chase, Fossil, Massachusetts Mutual, Diageo North America, Cablevision, Lionsgate and Athyrium Capital.

Joe Gorin, Managing Director at Rockwood Capital, said, "530 Fifth's dynamic location and architectural features have provided a strong foundation from which to reposition this building as a top tier asset. This property epitomizes Rockwood's strategy of investing in well-located real estate that provides an opportunity to outperform over the long term."

"Fifth Avenue will always serve as an iconic location in NYC for retail and office space," said Michael Phillips of Jamestown. "Once we repositioned the 530 Fifth Ave property with a renovated lobby, internal upgrades and amenities it was with Eastdil's guidance we saw an opportunity to monetize the asset."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Oxford, Crown Purchase Interest in Olympic Tower with $250M Wells Fargo Loan

A joint venture between Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of the OMERS Worldwide Group of Companies, and Crown Acquisitions Inc. announced a joint acquisition of a "significant interest" in New York's Olympic Tower. The JV purchased the interest in the Midtown property from Williston SA, a company controlled by the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. According to a Commercial Real Estate Direct report, Wells Fargo provided the $250 million loan against the 500,000-square-foot Olympic Tower mixed-use complex on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The fixed-rate loan was used to refinance a $250 million mortgage that had been provided by Deutsche Bank earlier this year.

"The acquisition of Olympic Tower is consistent with Oxford's U.S. investment strategy," said Blake Hutcheson, President and CEO, Oxford Properties Group. "We seek large scale, world class mixed use assets with long term partners and we are very excited to join Crown Acquisitions and the Onassis Foundation in this exceptional opportunity. We believe in New York, We believe in this real estate and we believe in our partners."

Anthony Papadimitriou, president of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, said: "This partnership will enhance the positioning of our retail and office interests along Fifth Avenue and will most certainly add value over time. This transaction falls within our strategy of diversification of our real estate portfolio and I look forward to working with Crown and Oxford."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.