Jamestown founder Christoph Kahl and the Chelsea Market
[Updated Aug. 16 at 10.30 p.m.] Having closed on its acquisition of the remaining stakes in the Chelsea Market building at 75 Ninth Avenue, Georgia-based real estate firm Jamestown Properties now owns the entire property, valued at $795 million, according to public records filed with the city today.
Jamestown, an investor in the property since 2003, recently bought out Angelo Gordon & Co., Belvedere Capital Real Estate Partners and Chelsea Market developer Irwin Cohen (note: correction appended) for $225 million and aims to add a 300,000-square-foot tower to the building, to be used for office space and a hotel.
The 1.183 million-square-foot building takes up the entire block between 15th and 16 streets and Ninth and 10th avenues and is 99 percent leased, to tenants like the Food Network, NY1, Time Warner, EMI and Google, as well as the retail and food court on the first floor.
Cohen purchased the debt on the property for less than $10 million in the early 1990s.
Jamestown’s development scheme includes a nearly 250,000-square-foot Office Space Addition On 10th Avenue side above the High Line and a 90,000-square-foot Hotel On The Ninth Avenue side. As part of the deal, Jamestown will have to contribute more than $16 million into the High Line Improvement fund and would build public restrooms and an event space for the popular attraction.
Asking rents for retail tenants in the concourse of Chelsea Market are more than $100 a square foot, according to news reports. The office space above rents for around $50 per square foot.
Jamestown has secured a $380 million loan for use in the recapitalization of building, financed by Germany’s Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg and arranged by CB Richard Ellis, it was announced last week. The loan will replace the market’s long-term financing.
Executives from Jamestown and Belvedere were not immediately available for comment.
A spokesperson for Angelo Gordon confirmed that the sale of its stake was complete but declined further comment.