Westbrook, RXR to buy huge BK property for $160M-plus

UPDATED, 2:09 p.m., Nov. 13: Westbrook Partners and RXR Realty are in contract to buy a half-million-square-foot commercial property near the Brooklyn Navy Yard for more than $160 million, according to sources. 

The partners signed a hard contract to buy 47 Hall Street from a partnership of Rubin Schron’s Cammeby’s International, Eli Fruchthandler and Bruce Federman.

The price tag, sources told The Real Deal, is between $160 million and $170 million ($290-$310 per square foot) for the 550,000-square-foot building, which sits just south of the Brooklyn Navy Yard campus.

A representative for Westbrook declined to comment. Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh, who sources said was the sole broker on the transaction, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The sellers, who are key investors in the 6.8 million-square-foot Industry City in nearby Sunset Park, have been declining to renew leases at 47 Hall ahead of the sale, TRD reported in September. The property’s website identifies it as a “multi-use creative complex.” Many current tenants are paying rents between $6 and $8 a foot.

The deal is yet another signal that large institutional investors are bullish on the outer-borough office markets.

At the Navy Yard, Rudin Management and partner Boston Properties are building a new, 675,000 square-foot office building. Kushner Companies is finding success in Dumbo Heights with partners Invesco Real Estate, RFR Realty and LVWRK.

In Long Island City, Atlas Capital Group bought a 1 million square-foot property out of foreclosure that it has dubbed “The Factory,” where this summer the firm signed Macy’s on to a 150,000 square-foot lease.

Atlas is a partner with Westbrook on the massive St. John’s Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan, where the two earlier this year paid $200 million to pick up a controlling interest in the property. The owners are considering retail and parking options for the site. Westbrook also bought the 513,000 square-foot 1375 Broadway in June for $310 million.

Meanwhile, Schron’s Cammeby’s International is changing tack as the 78-year-old investor makes plans to hand the company over to his two sons. The firm is developing a 41-story residential tower at 532 Neptune Avenue in Coney Island. The Real Deal profiled the Schron family business in October.

This post was updated to include RXR Realty as one of the partners.