Boston Properties to join as partner on Moinian’s 3 Hudson Boulevard

The REIT signed a term sheet for a nearly $500M investment: sources

From left: Joseph Moinian, Owen Thomas and 3 Hudson Boulevard (credit: FXFOWLE)
From left: Joseph Moinian, Owen Thomas and 3 Hudson Boulevard (credit: FXFOWLE)

In a breakthrough for Moinian Group’s long-gestating Hudson Yards development, Boston Properties has agreed to partner with Moinian Group on its construction of 3 Hudson Boulevard, The Real Deal has learned.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said the Boston-based real estate investment trust signed a term sheet last month to provide nearly $500 million of equity. Boston Properties would serve as the developer of record, and Moinian would continue to search for an additional equity partner, sources said.

Since January, Moinian has been in the hunt for a $3 billion debt-and-equity package, including a $1.8 billion construction loan.  The developer, which broke ground late last year on the 53-story, 2 million-square-foot office tower, has not locked in an anchor tenant.

A JLL team led by Aaron Appel and Kellogg Gaines is handling the debt-and-equity search. Sources said the developer is targeting a foreign investor for the additional equity. Moinian has gone after between $250 million and $350 million of EB-5 financing.

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Representatives for Moinian, Boston Properties and JLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The deal with Boston Properties is expected to close in mid-May. Also, on Tuesday, Tishman Speyer signed Pfizer to 800,000 square feet at its Hudson Yards office tower, the Spiral, and locked in a $1.8 billion construction loan from Blackstone Mortgage Trust.

Moinian bought the site from Verizon for $54.8 million in late 2005, just months after the Bloomberg administration rezoned 48 blocks on the Far West Side. The developer launched leasing at the site years later, in 2013.