Rockwood looks to get nearly $600M for Grand Central office tower

Private equity firm lists building Macklowe developed in the ’80s

2 Grand Central and from left Rockwood Capital's Walter Schmidt, Robert Gray and Peter Falco (Credit: iStock)
2 Grand Central and from left Rockwood Capital's Walter Schmidt, Robert Gray and Peter Falco (Credit: iStock)

A Midtown office tower that Harry Macklowe developed at the start of the 1980s building boom is up for sale.

Rockwood Capital has put the 44-story 2 Grand Central Tower on the market, sources told The Real Deal. The New York-based real estate private equity investor is expecting pricing in the mid $800 per-square-foot range, which would put the cost in the neighborhood of $580 million, according to a source familiar with the offer.

A representative for Rockwood could not be immediately reached for comment. An Eastdil Secured team of Gary Phillips, Will Silverman and Steve Binswanger is marketing the property. A representative for Eastdil declined to comment.

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The 650,000-square-foot office tower at 140 East 45th Street, a block from Grand Central Terminal, is 92 percent occupied, according to marketing materials. Its largest tenant, insurer Cigna, represents only 7 percent of the tower’s rentable area, eliminating the risk of a big vacancy being created by a single departure.

Rockwood Capital — founded in 1995 by partners Walter Schmidt, Robert Gray and Peter Faclo — purchased the building from Boston Properties in 2011 for $401 million. Boston Properties had acquired it for nearly $428 million in 2008 from Macklowe, who built it in 1981.

Rockwood last year was raising its 11th private equity fund, a $1.2 billion value-add investment vehicle.

Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 212-673-5081