MHP Real Estate Services is not alone in its $463 million acquisition of 850 Third Avenue in Midtown – with the firm receiving significant equity backing from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group.
HNA and MHP[TRData] will close this week on their purchase of the 614,000-square-foot office building, located between East 51st and East 52nd streets, from Shorenstein Properties[TRData].
HNA will become the “equity owner” of the 21-story building, the Chinese investment firm said in a statement, with MHP serving as the “operating partner.” The two sides entered contract on the property earlier this year in an off-market deal. Inquiries regarding HNA’s ownership stake in the building were not returned.
The office building is the latest addition to HNA’s New York City portfolio, which already includes the Cassa Hotel, at 70 West 45th Street, And 1180 Sixth Avenue – a 400,000-square-foot Midtown office property that it also co-owns with MHP.
HNA said it will set up its HNA Capital division’s U.S. headquarters at 850 Third Avenue, joining current tenants like Discovery Communications, Radio One and the City of New York.
San Francisco-based Shorenstein tapped a JLL team last year to market 850 Third Avenue, and the deal with HNA and MHP falls within the company’s asking price of between $450 million and $500 million for the property.
Shorenstein acquired the building in 2008 as part of A Package That Included Park Avenue Tower, at 65 East 55th Street. The deal for the two properties was valued at a combined $930 million.
MHP, which owns and manages more than 6 million square feet of office space in New York, teamed with Clarion Partners to buy 180 Maiden Lane in the Financial District for $470 million in late 2014.