HSBC and Edge Fund Advisors are about to test whether the Manhattan trophy property sales market has fully recovered from its early 2017 slump. The partners put a 48 percent stake in the office portion of 1540 Broadway on the market, hoping to fetch around $445 million.
The 909,000-square-foot commercial condo is 92 percent occupied, Real Estate Alert reported. Newmark Knight Frank has the listing. Any buyer would also assume a share of the $450 million mortgage, reducing the cash they’d need to shell out to acquire the stake.
The 44-story tower was built in 1990 as the headquarters of German publisher Bertelsmann. In 2006, Vornado Realty Trust bought the retail space for $260 million. A year later, Harry Macklowe paid the Blackstone Group $830 million for the office portion of the property. Macklowe lost the property to his lender, Deutsche Bank, which sold it to CBRE Global Investors.
HSBC bought a 49 percent stake in 2010 and picked up the remaining 51 percent in 2011, in deals valuing the office space at $520 million and $660 million, respectively. Tenants include Viacom, Pillsbury Winthrop, Duane Morris, Adobe Systems and Verizon. [REA] — Konrad Putzier