Unizo Holding Co. closed on its purchase of 685 Third Avenue in an all-cash deal for $467.5 million.
The Japanese real estate firm, formerly known as Jowa Holdings, bought the 31-story, 651,429-square-foot property from TH Real Estate, Real Estate Weekly reported. A source familiar with the transaction told The Real Deal that Unizo bought the property all-cash.
The deal works out almost $718 per square foot. CBRE’s Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan represented TH Real Estate in the deal.
The seller bought the property from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2010 for $190 million. TH Real Estate recently signed a lease with Maison Kayser for the tower’s corner retail space, and the building’s occupancy is at 93 percent.
“The successful redevelopment combined with the property’s central Grand Central/UN submarket location and strong tenancy resulted in multiple offers from a mix of foreign and domestic institutional investors,” Giacomo Barbieri, TH Real Estate’s managing director and regional head of New York metro investments, told Real Estate Weekly.
This is Unizo’s sixth acquisition in the city. The company recently picked up 370 Lexington Avenue for $247 million, 440 Ninth Avenue for $210 million and a pair of buildings near Madison Square Park. [REW] – Rich Bockmann