Ivanhoé Cambridge JV buys NYC office tower for $650m

Ivanhoé Cambridge and its US office partner, Callahan Capital Properties, have teamed up to buy a 30-story office building in New York City for about $650 million, the groups said Tuesday.

The deal represents the joint venture’s first acquisition in downtown Manhattan. The sellers of 85 Broad Street were a joint venture comprising MetLife Real Estate Investors, the real estate arm of New York-based insurer MetLife, and Beacon Capital Partners, the Boston-based private equity real estate firm, according to data provider Real Capital Analytics. MetLife bought the building in 1985 for $74.4 million, and Beacon purchased a 50 percent stake in the building from MetLife in November 2014 in a deal that valued the building at $350 million.

Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and a spokesman for Ivanhoé Cambridge declined further comment.

When Beacon acquired its interest, 85 Broad Street was half vacant, according to RCA. Now, the 1.1 million square foot building is at 87 percent occupancy, with tenants ranging from co-working provider WeWork to Vox Media. The building, located in Manhattan’s Financial District, includes a bicycle room, cafeteria and wellness center, according to its website.

“We are proud to acquire such a high-quality, marquee property,” Arthur Lloyd, president of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s North America office group, said in a statement. “85 Broad Street features state-of-the-art building services and amenities and appeals to both traditional and TAMI [technology, advertising, media, information] users.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge, which is the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, now owns 6.7 million square feet of New York office space, according to the announcement. It managed about C$56 billion ($42 billion; €39.8 billion) in real estate as of December 31.

The pension system teamed up with Chicago-based Callahan in 2012 to develop a US office platform, according to its website.