Habor Group International LLC has sold an office building at 4 New York Plaza in Lower Manhattan for $270 million to a joint venture of HSBC Alternative Investments Limited and Edge Fund Advisors. Harbor Group bought the property in January 2010 from JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) for $107 million in a 15-year sale and lease-back deal for 75% of the property.
The 1.1 million square foot building is located at the corner of Water Street and Broad Street.
After buying the building, Harbor Group leased 20,000 square meters in it to the "New York Daily News", the weekly "US News and World Report", and magazine publisher American Media Inc. The building's occupancy rate is currently 95%.
Harbor Group Israel CEO Jay Zweibel said, "The combination of exploiting market conditions to buy the property at a low price two years ago, and improving the property by renting space unoccupied at the time of the purchase, has created substantial value for the property, which is reflected in this deal, in which the property was sold for 2.5 times its purchase price."
"We were fortunate to acquire this property at the bottom of the market," said Harbor Group International CEO Jordan Slone. "When we bought the property in January 2010, financing was difficult to find, but we saw the opportunity and we were able to close the deal and secure financing within three weeks. Over the past 18 months, we've had many offers to buy the property, but we waited for the right deal."
Electra Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:ELCRE) owns 20% of Harbor Group International, and US and Israeli investors own the rest.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2012
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