Blackstone makes huge bet on Scott Rechler’s RXR

Private equity giant buying 50% stake in six NYC properties, valuing them at $4B

From left: Scott Rechler, 601 West 26th Street, 340 Madison Avenue and Jonathan Gray
From left: Scott Rechler, 601 West 26th Street, 340 Madison Avenue and Jonathan Gray

Scott Rechler’s RXR Realty is in contract to sell a 50 percent stake in six New York-area office buildings to private equity giant the Blackstone Group. 

The portfolio deal would value the properties – Including 620 Sixth Avenue, 1330 Sixth Avenue, 340 Madison Avenue and the Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street – at roughly $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

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Blackstone is making the acquisition through its core-plus real estate fund, which it also used to buy Vornado Realty Trust’s 1740 Broadway for $605 million late last year, as The Real Deal reported. The RXR deal is part of Blackstone’s foray into deals that fall between core investments and riskier deals, according to the Journal.

Eastdil Secured’s Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies are representing RXR in the transaction. Rechler plans to use the proceeds from the sale to return equity to RXR’s investors, the newspaper reported.

In 2006, Rechler sold his real estate investment firm Reckson Associates Realty Corp. to SL Green Realty for $4 billion, not including debt. [WSJ]Mark Maurer