Pension fund to sell stake in Silverstein’s 120 Broadway tower

Larry Silverstein and 120 Broadway (building photo source: PropertyShark)

The
California State Teachers’ Retirement System is selling its
majority
stake in 120 Broadway, a 40-story office tower and historic landmark
co-owned
by developer Larry Silverstein, Bloomberg news reported. CalSTRS, the
second-largest public
pension fund in the country, is hoping to profit from its 2004
investment in the skyscraper,
according to an e-mailed statement from its adviser, CB Richard Ellis
Investors. Silverstein will reportedly hold onto his interest, two
people with
knowledge of his plan told Bloomberg news. The tower “has proven to be
an
excellent
investment,” Ryan Gill, a CBRE spokesperson said.
“CalSTRS has a continuing good relationship with the Silverstein
Organization,
but has decided to harvest some of the gains through the disposition of
its
interest in 120 Broadway.” The tower, also known as the Equitable
Building, was valued at about
$300 million, or $173 per square foot, when CalSTRS bought its
stake in 2004, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. The
current selling price was not immediately available. Only five office
buildings downtown have
changed
hands since the credit crisis deepened in the third quarter of 2008,
according
to Real Capital, including the now defunct American
International Group’s headquarters
at 70 Pine and 72 Wall streets, and JPMorgan Chase’s tower at
4 New York Plaza. [Bloomberg via Crain’s]