GIC and Paramount Group’s $1.04 billion purchase of 60 Wall Street accounted for half of the value of all office properties sold in the city during the first quarter of 2017.
According to listing platform CommercialCafé’s list of the top ten office sales in the city, the deal, which gave GIC a 95 percent stake in the Financial District tower, was the highlight of a tepid quarter. During the period, sales activity stayed flat year-on-year at ten transactions, with sales volume dropping 63 percent to $2.07 billion.
The average sale price for office properties in the city also dropped 23 percent year-on-year from $964 to $741.
“New York City (more specifically, Midtown Manhattan) is still one of the world’s most expensive office markets, in terms of both asking rents and sale prices. National and offshore investors alike remain committed to this highly competitive market, which promises stable, long-term returns,” read the report.
Manhattan was the site of eight of the ten largest office transactions in the city. The other two were in Brooklyn. The second-largest office transaction during the quarter was Brookfield and Swig Company’s ground lease acquisition at 1100 Avenue of the Americas. The joint venture plans to redevelop the 15-story building, which has housed sole tenant HBO since 1984, into a 386,000 s/f office and retail tower.
The top ten was rounded out by Lexin Capital at 551 Madison Avenue ($155 million), New School at 34 West 14th Street ($153 million), Madison Capital at 71 Fifth Avenue ($85 million), Zar Group at 250 West 54th Street ($83.1 million), Meadow Partners at 57 Willoughby Street ($54 million), Stellar Management and Imperium Capital at 220 Fifth Avenue ($53.8 million), Gatsby Realty at 56 West 45th Street ($50 million) and Acuity Capital Partners at 185 Marcy Avenue ($30 million).
According to CommercialCafé, the slowdown in unlikely to persist, with signs pointing to a recovery over the next few months.
“The New York City office market started slow in the first months of 2017, continuing to cool down from the record highs recorded in 2015. Yet with the presidential election now in the rearview mirror, and with the unemployment rate at a record low of 4.8 percent as of February, the market is likely to pick up steam over the following months. The healthy job market is fueling corporate expansions and relocations, while property owners try to stay competitive by upgrading older buildings to meet the high demand,” the report read.
