HNA, partners take financial loss on sale of 850 Third Avenue

Building sold to Jacob Chetrit for a reported $422M

850 Third Avenue and HNA's Chen Feng (Credit: Wikipedia)
850 Third Avenue and HNA's Chen Feng (Credit: Wikipedia)

Investor Jacob Chetrit bought 850 Third Avenue from debt-laden HNA Group and its partners for $422 million.

Chetrit and his sons, Michael and Simon, closed on the deal Tuesday afternoon, Bisnow reported.

“We view 850 Third Ave. as a balanced investment, due to its existing strong tenant roster and the opportunity for future upside,” Michael Chetrit said in a prepared statement.

HNA’s minority partners, MHP Real Estate Services and ATCO Properties & Management, also sold their stakes in the 21-story Midtown East office tower.

The Real Deal first reported in November that the owners had a deal in place to sell the tower to a member of the Chetrit family.

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The sellers are realizing a loss in the deal. MHP and HNA paid $463 million to buy the property in 2016, a time when HNA and other Chinese companies were in the midst of a real-estate buying spree.

But soon after, the Chinese government started clamping down on overleveraged spending, and HNA and other Chinese companies started selling off assets.

The United States government was reportedly considering seizing HNA’s stake in the 617,000-square-foot building last year over national security concerns.

HNA also sold a stake in 245 Park Avenue last year to SL Green Realty, which invested $148.2 million in the tower that HNA paid a whopping $2.2 billion for in 2017.

MHP’s Esther Zar represented all of the parties in the 850 Third Avenue sale. [Bisnow] – Rich Bockmann