One Worldwide Plaza sale approved despite RXR suit

RXR’s Scott Rechler and One Worldwide Plaza
RXR’s Scott Rechler and One Worldwide Plaza

The owners of One Worldwide Plaza got the green light from a New York State judge to sell the building to American Realty Capital for $1.35 billion, despite RXR Realty’s move to block the sale of the 1.8 million-square-foot, 59-story Midtown office tower.

RXR had planned to pay $605 million for a 40 percent stake in the building, partly owned by investment firm George Comfort & Sons. RXR was working with American Realty as a joint investor, until American Realty talked directly to George Comfort about going solo on the purchase, as previously reported. George Comfort made a deal with American Realty instead, and RXR filed suit earlier this month. But Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich said the tower’s owners didn’t have to wait for RXR, which wasn’t ready to close on a purchase at the time that George Comfort agreed to do a deal with American Realty Capital, Law360 reported.

“I think the likelihood of success is not great, and it’s speculative to think that this deal would’ve closed,” Kornreich ruled.

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RXR’s attorney Stephen Meister said during the hearing that the buyer and seller had violated confidentiality agreements when they struck the deal, and had used the RXR-designed  proposal to put together their deal, according to Law360.

RXR can appeal the ruling before 5 p.m. today. [Law360]Hiten Samtani