The building will be completely vacant when the NYT makes the move to its new headquarters building at 620 Eighth Ave. According to published reports, Africa Israel will keep the facility an office property, investing $170 million in building renovations to bring the almost one-hundred-year-old building up to Midtown office standards. 229 W. 43rd St. was built in 1913 and has housed the newspaper from the first days.
Tishman Speyer purchased 229 W. 43rd St. in November 2004 for $175 million. The current sales price triples Tishman Speyer's initial investment, even without the significant renovations the company had planned to undertake when purchasing the facility.
Still the price, which factors out to $704 per sf, is significantly less than other Midtown office properties have recently traded for. For example, Broadway Partners is purchasing the 1.2-million-sf 280 Park Ave. for about $1.2 billion from Istithmar; and the Kushner Cos. closed on the 1.6-million-sf 666 Fifth Ave. for $1.8 billion. Tishman Speyer sold that property, beating previous records with the $1,200-per-sf selling price.
The purchase of 229 W. 43rd St., marks Africa Israel's third recent transaction in Manhattan. According to the firm's Q1 report, in March an Africa Israel affiliate purchased 50% of the Apthorp building on the Upper West Side for $426 million. The 12-story, 346,910-sf apartment building will undergo a total renovation. Additionally, in January the investment firm sold 14 Wall St. for $325 million
"In this year, the company continued to act according to the business strategy line to expand its activity in core segments, while investing managerial resources in initiating and location of business opportunities within the countries we are active in and in the new territories," Leviev said in a Q1 statement. "The company plans to continue initiating and developing business opportunities in Israel and around the world in its main segments of activity to assure stable and diversified growth engines for years to come."
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