Blackstone is the buyer of Vornado’s 1740 Broadway: sources

Private equity giant Blackstone Group is the buyer of Vornado Realty Trust’s 1740 Broadway, The Real Deal has learned. Sources familiar with the $605 million transaction said that Blackstone made the buy through its core-plus real estate fund.

Vornado announced the sale of the 26-story, 601,000-square-foot building, located between West 55th and 56th streets, on Monday, but did not reveal the buyer. L Brands, the parent company of lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works, is the building’s largest tenant, according to CoStar Group data. A source familiar with Blackstone said that the core-plus fund was on the lookout for high-quality assets with stable near-term cash flows, and would continue to look for opportunities in New York and other national gateway markets. Core-plus funds tend to invest in assets with moderate risk and moderate returns, and these assets often require value-add enhancements.

CBRE Group’s Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan brokered the $1,000-per-square-foot deal, but were unavailable for comment Tuesday evening. Representatives for Vornado and Blackstone declined to comment.

Blackstone is shopping around 1095 Sixth Avenue, a 1.2 million-square-foot tower in the Bryant Park area, for north of $2 billion, and has seen interest from buyers such as Norwegian sovereign fund Norges Bank for the property, as TRD reported.