Blackstone is betting on Manhattan's Herald Towers, a building that's undergone major renovation recently.
The New York-based firm has made a preferred equity investment in the one-million-square-foot property that's owned by JEMB Realty, the Commercial Observer reports. The size of the deal is below $100 million, according to the news outlet.
Since JEMB first acquired Herald in 1999 — the 25-story building has gone through significant changes. It now contains 102,000 square feet of retail and 691 residential units. The CO said that JEMB has spent more than $13 million on recent renovations.
In May, Old Navy inked a 55,000 square foot lease at Herald — marking the largest retail signing at the time during 2025 in New York City. It was also one of the biggest deals in Manhattan that the sector has seen in the past five years.
Currently, Herald is 97 percent occupied by tenants, according to the CO.
Herald is another target for Blackstone in New York over the past 12 months. Most notably, the company took out a $850 million commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan to fund a 46 percent stake in Midtown office tower 1345 Avenue of the Americas. Last November, Blackstone acquired a 131,000 square foot retail portfolio in SoHo for $197.5 million. And as a seller, led by the firm's joint venture, it disposed 121 New York property loans in May for $395 million, as reported by Bloomberg.
Overall, retail across Prime NYC looks strong. A recent report from JLL found that the market's retail availability hit a record low, dating back to the third quarter of 2017. Plus, Times Square is standing out for rents, commanding the highest prices at $1,555 per square foot, representing a surge of 19.3 percent year-over-year.
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