A nearly half-billion dollar slice of the Bertelsmann Building is being offered for sale.
The owners — affiliates of EDGE Fund Advisors and HSBC Alternative Investment Limited — have tapped Newmark Knight Frank’s (NKF) New York Capital Markets team to offer for sale a 48 percent equity interest in the landmark building at 1540 Broadway.
The 44-story, 909,000 s/f trophy office building in Times Square is topped by a distinctive, six-story spire and considered one of midtown’s iconic assets.
NKF’s vice chairman Edward Maher, senior managing director Alex Foshay and senior managing director David Colen will be leading the sale efforts – the first major assignment for the recently expanded New York Capital Markets team. The NKF team in New York, led by Maher, has seen the recent addition of Foshay, who transferred from the London Capital Markets team.
EDGE Fund Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based fund operator, and London-based HSBC, retained the NKF team to sell the 48.165 percent joint venture stake in the property. The sale of the interest places it below the FIRPTA tax threshold, a tax benefit that should attract international investors.
1540 Broadway’s anticipated valuation is $925 million, or around $1,000 psf. Currenlty 92 percent leased, its net operating income is projected to grow as much as 32 percent in six years as the vacancy is leased up and near term rents are marked to market. The property is currently undergoing a $30 million renovation set to be completed in 2018.
