A minority stake is up for grabs at the trophy 11 Times Square, where Microsoft now has offices.
The 49 percent interest is being offered by developer Steven J. Pozycki of SJP Properties and investors advised by Prudential Real Estate.
The 1.1 million square-foot tower is LEED Gold rated and about 85 percent leased. While the 40-story glass skyscraper is the newest office building in Times Square, it also has been slow to lease up. Proskauer Rose was its first and largest tenant with over 400,000 feet, but a 170,000-square-foot block remains vacant from the 31st through the 36th floors.
Times Square snoops tell us Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan of CBRE are target marketing the share to a select group of possible investment partners. It was unclear if the stake being sold is just Prudential’s client or if Pozycki was also trying to monetize his investment.
The CBRE team is also selling a similar 49 percent stake for the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio in the 1 million square foot 590 Madison Ave. in the Plaza District. The fund will retain its majority share in the 43-story building developed for IBM — which still has space — and that is still managed and leased by developer Edward Minskoff. According to Crain’s, that tower could be revalued at $1.5 billion.
Another trophy, the former Helmsley Building that straddles Park Avenue at 230 Park Ave., is also being sold by CBRE for Anthony Westreich’s Monday Properties, which is jettisoning its last city holding.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, there have already been $30 billion in buildings sold this year alone with more to come.
No one from CBRE or SJP returned requests for comment.
Fast food café Pret A Manger has started a fresh food fight with building owner Boston Properties by jumping to a larger store a block away and then not paying the rent of around $25,000 per month at its old location, which is still under a lease.
Pret has been located at 399 Park Ave. on the Lexington Avenue side of the building near E. 54th Street since it signed a lease right after 9/11. That lease runs into 2017, when all the retail leases end, so the property can be redeveloped, sources advised.
In June, Pret signed a deal and jumped one block south into SL Green Realty Corp.’s 600 Lexington Ave., where it now has a larger store on the northwest corner of 52nd Street.
Ariel Schuster of RFK, Pret’s broker, said “The new store is a beautiful space with high ceilings and new furniture and fixtures.” He declined to discuss issues with the 399 Park space as he had not been involved.
While setting up a location in advance of a termination is not uncommon, Pret may have cooked up a lawsuit from Boston Properties, the Mort Zuckerman-led real estate investment trust, when it didn’t fork over its November lease payment.
Boston’s legal eagles are expected to file a lawsuit soon, sources said.
Founded in London in 2000, Pret soon set up a fresh food post near the New York Stock Exchange that has now morphed into 40 in Manhattan and more than 300 worldwide.
A Pret spokeswoman did not return requests for comment while Boston Properties executives also declined to comment.
Be thankful for subways that work; streetlights that actually illuminate pedestrians; architects and developers with vision; and contractors and engineers who know what they are doing, so that tall towers don’t tip over and colorful large balloons can fly high over parades. Happy Turkey.
Magna-tic attraction on Wall
Magna is among the firms that have signed 135,000 square feet at The Trump Organization’s 40 Wall Street building this year alone.
The local investment company’s 16,252 square-foot headquarters deal encompasses 8,126 feet on the 57th floor and 8,126 feet above it on the 58th.
The asking rent for the 12-year pact was $48 per square foot, and the firm will be moving from another downtown building, at 5 Hanover Square.
Headed by CEO Joshua Sason and executives with roots in finance and entertainment, it reinvests its profits with “optimism, energy and collaboration.”
Magna recently spun $3 million into PledgeMusic, a digital fan-and-musician interaction Web site.
Along with Martin Scorsese, Magna’s entertainment arm is also producing and financing the feature film, “Bleed for This,” starring Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart, and Ciaran Hinds; about five-time world-champion boxer Vinny Pazienza, which was written and is being directed by Ben Younger.
Jeff Buslik and Seth Godnick of Adams & Co. represented Magna; Jeffrey Lichtenberg, Frank Cento and Scott Silverstein of Cushman & Wakefield represented the Trump Organization.
