450 West 33rd Trades for $320M

NEW YORK CITY-Max Capital Management Corp. will acquire 100% ownership of the 1.7 million-sf, 16-story 450 West 33rd St. for $320 million/188 per sf. The property on Midtown Manhattan’s West Side is home to a number of media companies, including the Associated Press, WNET/13, the New York Daily News and US News & World Report. Rents start in the high $20s per sf.

Adam Hochfelder, CEO of Max Capital, purchased the building from his original investment partners in the property, Angelo Gordon Co. and the Lonestar Fund. Hochfelder and his original partners purchased the property in 1999 from John Hancock Life Insurance Company for $222 million.

Douglas Harmon of Eastdil was the exclusive advisor to the entire transaction. Hochfelder tells GlobeSt.com Harmon was “instrumental” in making the deal. Jon Mechanic and the real estate department of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson represented Max Capital in this transaction.

The building has had a number of large-scale, high-profile leases of late. In mid June, the Associated Press, which has been headquartered at Rockefeller Center for 65 years, finalized plans to lease 290,773 sf at the so-called media hub. The news organization signed a 15-year lease for floors 14 through 16, as well as mezzanine and basement space in the building for $170 million. One of the reasons cited for the move was that AP was able to provide its employees with amenities, such as outdoor terraces, athletic facilities, a health club, cafeteria and an open working environment.

In late May, Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center signed a lease for 104,500 sf as part of an effort to bring together in one location many of the business functions that were taking place at more than a dozen regional sites throughout the metropolitan area.

Built in 1967, 450 West 33rd St. was modernized in 1991 and boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure, floorplates of more that 100,000 sf and a newly renovated double-height lobby.