UPDATED, May 14, 11:08 a.m.: Billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital and partners are reportedly in contract to buy a building at 787 Eleventh Avenue on the far West Side from Ford Motor Co.
A source told The Real Deal that Ackman partnered with the Georgetown Company, a New York City-based developer led by Adam Flatto and known for developing the IAC Building.
Ford currently uses the eight-story, 464,000-square-foot building as showrooms and a service center. The bottom two floors have a glass facade and area used as retail space, the New York Post reported. The site sits between West 54th and 55th streets.
The price was not known, but reports have said the property could fetch upwards of $230 million.
Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital is aiming to use the space as its new headquarters, the source confirmed, though it would have to bring in other tenants. It currently occupies only 31,000 square feet at 888 Seventh Avenue.
Ackman is not primarily a real estate investor, but famously purchased a $92 million condo in Extell Development’s One57 with a group of investors “for fun.”
Pershing Square was recently reported to be eyeing a new lease for 49,000 square feet in Boston Properties’ 250 West 55th Street, but it was unclear if the deal was abandoned in favor of Ford’s building. [NYP] — Tess Hofmann