820 Park Avenue (Source: Manhattan Scout)

A co-op at 820 Park Avenue redesigned by Robert A.M. Stern has listed for $16.5 million, the New York Post reported.

Serena Steinberg – daughter of Houston real estate mega-developers Gerald and Barbara Hines – and her husband own the unit, which underwent an extensive renovation over two years. Judith Lederer of Town Residential has the listing, the Post said. The four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom, full-floor co-op has been upgraded to feature “direct elevator access into its curbed marble entry,” windows on all four sides, Stern-designed bookshelves and a marble fireplace. [more]

Hines’ Tommy Craig, 499 Park Avenue and 425 Lexington Avenue

It’s official: Hines is selling off two Midtown office properties — 499 Park Avenue and 425 Lexington Avenue — for a combined price of more than $1 billion, according to a release from the Houston-based developer.

JPMorgan Asset Management will pay $750 million for 425 Lexington, as reported yesterday. [more]

425 Lexington Avenue

JPMorgan Asset Management is paying roughly $750 million for a 31-story office tower at 425 Lexington Avenue, Crain’s reported.

JPMorgan’s decision follows last month’s major lease deal at the 750,000-square-foot tower, with law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett renewing as an anchor tenant in a 20-year, 600,000-square-foot deal. The building is one of two Midtown towers being auctioned off by the developer Hines, the other being the 27-story 499 Park Avenue.  [more]

4 New York Plaza

Sandy-battered 4 New York Plaza has tapped developer Hines to carry out a $60 million overhaul of the building, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The 1.07-million-square tower reopened on Jan. 28 after being shuttered for over three months, but is yet to see some of its marquee tenants—including the New York Daily News and J.P. Morgan Chase—return. Mark Keller, the chief executive of Edge Fund Advisors, which owns the building in partnership with an HSBC fund, told the Journal that the project was a “massive undertaking.”  [more]

A rendering of Torre Verre

Despite rumors that the long-delayed Jean Nouvel-designed 1,050-foot MoMA Tower was nearing construction, the developer has confirmed that the project is still in its financing phase, the New York Observer reported.

What looked like construction equipment outside the MoMA had led to speculations that the project, officially known as Torre Verre, would finally be breaking ground. However, developer Hines told the Observer that they have yet to secure the financing necessary to begin building. [more]

From left: Tommy Craig of Hines and a rendering of 1045 Sixth Avenue

Even though the Houston-based Hines secured an agreement with JPMorgan Chase to finance the new 28-story, 450,000-square-foot office tower at Bryant Park, there is still no anchor tenant (note: correction appended). But that doesn’t worry Tommy Craig, senior vice president and partner at Hines’ New York office, according to Crain’s.

Hines has become to go-to office developer for Morgan Stanley, UBS and Goldman Sachs, Crain’s said. [more]

Rendering of 1045 Sixth Avenue and Henry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Houston-based real estate firm Hines revealed the Pei Cobb Freed & Partners design for its forthcoming Bryant Park office tower. The Wall Street Journal reported the 28-story, 450,000-square-foot structure at 1045 Sixth Avenue will feature concave detailing on its hourglass-shaped, glassy exterior and a large stainless steel disc suspended over the entrance at the corner of 40th Street. “The building was conceived in response to the extraordinary circumstance of its location at the corner of Bryant Park,” said architect Henry Cobb.

The tower is being built in partnership with Pacolet Milliken Enterprises, which has owned the land since 1954. Hines will wait until it signs some tenants and obtains construction financing before beginning work on the tower, according to the Wall Street Journal. … [more]

From left: 750 Seventh Avenue and 1251 Sixth Avenue

The New York State Retirement Fund entered a $1 billion joint venture with Houston-based Hines, to
develop, own and manage corporate and medical office properties with single-tenant users in the U.S.

The venture, called Hines Corporate Properties II, will follow a similar plan to the previous venture that
operated between the two entities from 1997-2004. Under that venture, the two companies developed
a portfolio of 3 million square feet, developing six built-to-suit offices and buying three single-tenanted
building.

“This is a joint strategy decision between Hines and New York Common, and we together believe that
there will be compelling opportunities to build built-to-suits given the market dynamics,” said Doug
Donovan, vice president at Hines, told The Real Deal, in an emailed statement…. [more]

Jean Nouvel and the Torre Verre

It seems like architect Jean Nouvel’s Torre Verre, or MoMA Tower, might be back on track, with a spokesperson for developer Hines admitting that the project was back on and imminent, the New York Observer reported.

Nouvel’s skyscraper, delayed by the financial crisis, was first introduced in 2007 to much critical acclaim. It was slated to be as high as 1,250 feet on land traded by the Musuem of Modern Art to Hines, for $125 million and three floors of galleries in the base of the new building. It would be tall enough to rival the Empire State Building.  City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden was less enamored with the tower than others and insisted that 200 feet be knocked off the top, making it smaller than even the Chrysler Building. According to the Observer, Hines has quietly filed a new set of plans with the Department of City Planning, compliant with two special permits that the commission and the City Council approved in 2009. … [more]

Hines Interests is looking to sell its 600,000-square-foot tower at 750 Seventh Avenue and has tapped commercial powerbroker Darcy Stacom of CB Richard Ellis to handle the deal, sources told the Observer. The real estate investment firm purchased the 32-story building, half of which is occupied by Morgan Stanley, for $150 million in 2000 through a partnership with General Motors. That works out to $260 per square foot. It’s unclear what Hines will be hoping to fetch for the 48th Street property, which is also home to Ernst & Young and Mendes and Mount, as it’s not officially on the market yet. [NYO]