China Investment Corp. buys $700M stake in 1 NY Plaza

Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. picked up a 49 percent stake in Brookfield Property Partners’ office tower at 1 New York Plaza in the Financial District.

In the latest instance of foreign investment driving the city’s commercial real estate market, CIC paid around $700 million for its minority interest in the 50-story, 2.6 million-square-foot tower, valuing it at roughly $1.4 billion.

Brookfield will maintain a controlling stake in the office building, according to Crain’s. The Toronto-based company announced that it had sold the 49 percent stake to an unnamed buyer in its quarterly earnings call earlier this month.

Brookfield will also continue to handle leasing and management at the building, whose office tenants include law firm Fried Frank and investment bank Morgan Stanley.

The landlord refinanced 1 New York Plaza, also known as 1 Water Street, with a $750 million loan from Wells Fargo earlier this year.

CIC, which has more than $700 billion under management, is the second sovereign wealth fund in recent months to invest in a sizable minority stake in one of Brookfield’s Manhattan assets.

Last fall, the Qatar Investment Authority acquired a 44 percent stake in the five-building Manhattan West development, thus valuing the megaproject at $8.6 billion. [Crain’s] – Rey Mashayekhi