Brookfield Asset Management paid former New York Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch $582 million for Waterside Plaza, three years after it first bought a stake in the four-tower complex along the FDR Drive and East 25th Street.
The deal closed on Oct. 28, according to New York City public records, three months after The Real Deal reported the sale. Though the price wasn’t disclosed at the time, people familiar with the deal told TRD that the deal valued Waterside at about $600 million. Brookfield’s real estate arm purchased its initial stake in 2018.
In addition to taking full ownership of the mixed-use property, Brookfield said it is also taking over management. Doug Harmon and Adam Spies of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
Ravitch, the former head of the Metropolitan Transportation Association, built the 1,471 apartment development in 1974 using Mitchell-Lama affordable financing. Ravitch exited the program about 20 years ago and most of the units are now market-priced.
The city and Ravitch struck a deal in August 2018 to preserve the affordability of 325 units for the next 75 years, according to local City Council member Keith Powers. That agreement was part of a plan to extend the ground lease for 99 years, which remains under the city’s uniform land use review process.
Brookfield is one of the most active buyers and sellers of real estate in New York City. Brookfield, along with Nuveen, the real estate arm of TIAA, recently listed a 76-story Frank Gehry-designed rental tower in Lower Manhattan for just above $850 million.