Tishman Plans $3B Tower

Rockefeller Center-based Tishman Speyer has released plans for a new $3 billion-plus office tower in the Hudson Yards district on Hudson Boulevard at the northern tip of the High Line. Designed by renowned Danish architect Bjarke Ingels of the Bjarke Ingels Group and dubbed The Spiral, the 65-story tower will feature a terraced design with an indoor workplace atrium and exterior landscaped terraces on every floor, with unobstructed views in every direction.

"This punctuates the High Line as the dot on the end of the question mark," explained Bjarke Ingels, referring to the building in relation to the curve of the transformed elevated freight line, in a Wall Street Journal article. "This linear urban garden climbs higher and higher from the High Line to the skyline, if you like."

The developer is working with Mr. Ingels on other projects in San Francisco and Frankfurt, Germany, and tapped him for the Spiral in part because he views real estate as "an organism that needs to be shaped," added Tishman Speyer Chief Executive Rob Speyer. "He understands the tectonic shifts that are happening not just in design but fundamentally in how people are interacting with one another within buildings." Tishman Speyer is looking to pre-lease about 30% of the building to obtain construction financing. The company already has secured more than $1 billion in equity from a group of international investors and has received approval for a 25-year tax abatement worth about $170 million, tapping into the incentives the city provides to developers in the district.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Granite Tower in Denver is Up for Sale

Granite Properties Inc. has placed the Granite Tower in Denver up for sale for an undisclosed asking price according to the Denver Business Journal. Granite originally purchased the landmark property for $88.5 million in 2005, or roughly $160 per square foot, from Amerimar Enterprises Inc. of Philadelphia. Mike Winn and Tim Richey of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc. are marketing the building for Granite. Stephanie Lawrence, the managing director for Granite, said in the article that the company decided to place the skyscraper on the market now due to the improving national commercial real estate investment market, and the attractiveness of downtown Denver office buildings to investors.

The 561,000 square foot 31-story Granite Tower, located at 1099 18th Street, was originally built in 1983 and previously known as Plaza Tower as part of the two-square-block Denver Place complex. The building is currently 95% leased with major tenants including Anadarko Petroleum, Robinson Waters & O'Dorisio PC and Jackson Kelly PLLC.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.