ING Finances 550 Madison Buy with $570M Loan

ING Capital, a part of ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin, announced that it had originated a $570 million loan for the purchase of 550 Madison Avenue in New York City. In a deal that was first reported in April, investor Joseph Chetrit and his partners at Clipper Capital were in contract with Saudi Arabia's Olayan Group to sell the tower at 550 Madison Ave. for between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion. The Olayan Group closed on its $1.4 billion acquisition of the property this month with the $570 million bridge loan from ING. Chetrit originally bought the building in 2013 for $1.1 billion with the intention of turning its upper-floor office space into luxury condos, but the plan never took shape. Morrison & Foerster's real estate group provided legal counsel to ING on the financing, while Shearman & Sterling represented Olayan America.

The 37-story building in the Plaza District of Manhattan, formerly known as the Sony Building (before the electronics giant vacated earlier this year) and originally the AT&T Building, has 852,830 square feet of rentable mixed-use space, including about 776,000 square feet of office space. With one restaurant tenant holding 5,000 square feet, the property was virtually vacant at the time of sale, which allows the new ownership an opportunity to rebrand and reconfigure the existing space. "The property has been maintained to a high standard and has never previously been available to the open market for office leasing," said Tony Fusco, head of Real Estate at Olayan America.

550 Madison Avenue was designed by architect Philip Johnson and partner John Burgee and was completed in 1984. The building stood in stark contrast to the boxy glass-and-metal towers that had sprung up in Midtown Manhattan since the 1950s featuring a number of ornamental flourishes, from its granite cladding and "Chippendale" roof line to its brass and marble finishes on the interior.

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Invesco Invests in 230 Park Ave

Dallas-based Invesco Real Estate has been brought on as a new partner invested in 230 Park Ave. in New York, the tower above Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal. Monday Properties recapitalizes the landmark Manhattan office tower, buying out a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. real estate fund, according to a Bloomberg report. Monday Properties and a Goldman fund venture purchased the 34-story building in 2007 for $1.15 billion.

The deal "commences this new chapter for 230 Park Ave.," said Monday's CEO Anthony Westreich in the statement, calling the 34-story tower "a unique landmark environment." Terms of the transaction with Invesco's Dallas-based real estate unit were not disclosed. As part of that deal, Goldman is exiting the building, according to Brian Robin, a vice president at Monday Properties. Monday Properties will continue to manage 230 Park Avenue where major tenants include ING, Simon Property Group, Tokio Marine Management and Houston & Rosen P.C.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CBRE Buying ING Real Estate for $940M

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. and ING announced this week that CBRE would be acquiring most of the real estate investment management business of ING Group NV for $940 million in cash according to a Boomberg report. The acquisitions include substantially all of the ING Real Estate Investment Management (ING REIM) operations in Europe and Asia, as well as Clarion Real Estate Securities (CRES), its U.S.-based global real estate listed securities business. CBRE will also acquire approximately $55 million of CRES co-investments from ING and potentially interests in other funds managed by ING REIM Europe and ING REIM Asia.

"ING REIM, when combined with our existing Global Investment Management operations, will provide us with a significantly enhanced ability to meet the needs of institutional investors across global markets with a full spectrum of investment programs and strategies," said Brett White, CB Richard Ellis’ chief executive officer. "Our firms fit together well and our investment program offerings are highly complementary. The combined enterprise will further diversify our revenue sources and as the global market leader, we will redefine success in real estate investment management."

In a separate transaction, ING has agreed to sell the private market real estate investment manager of its US operations, Clarion Partners, to Clarion Partners management in partnership with Lightyear Capital LLC for $100 million.

"We are pleased to have found in CB Richard Ellis, and Clarion Partners management together with Lightyear, dedicated and solid partners to build on the leading positions of these REIM businesses and ensure continuity of investment teams in managing client assets in their best interests," said William Connelly, CEO of ING Commercial Banking.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.