Japanese real estate firm Unizo Holding Company has just bought 685 Third Avenue in Midtown for $467.5 million.
Unizo, formerly known as Jowa Holdings, bought the property from TH Real Estate, an affiliate of financial planning firm Nuveen. TH Real Estate bought the 31-story, 651,492 s/f in 2010 for $190 million. The firm later sold a 49.9 percent interest in the property to Australian sovereign wealth fund Future Fund.
TH Real Estate renovated the building from 2011 to 2013. Improvements cover the building’s lobby and pocket park. Its tenant roster includes Salesforce, Tribune and Crain’s. TH Real Estate recently closed a lease with Maison Kayser for the building’s corner retail space. The tower’s occupancy rate is currently at 93 percent.
“Taking a creative approach to unlocking value in New York City office buildings is a fundamental capability for us,” said Giacomo Barbieri, TH Real Estate’s managing director and regional head of New York metro investments. “The successful redevelopment combined with the property’s central Grand Central/UN submarket location and strong tenancy resulted in multiple offers from a mix of foreign and domestic institutional investors.”
The purchase represents Unizo’s sixth in New York City. The company’s portfolio includes 370 Lexington and 440 Ninth Avenue.
CBRE’s Bill Shanahan and Darcy Stacom represented TH Real Estate in the transaction.
