Two of New York City’s biggest real estate investors announced they’d become shareholders in one of the nation’s most ubiquitous department store chains, J.C. Penney. The larger investor, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital, which purchased a 16.5 percent stake in the company, valued at $900 million, is assumed to be in a deal with Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust, which disclosed its own 9.9 percent stake in the company, as well. Vornado and Pershing have a history of separately investing with big-box retailers, including Toys ‘R’ Us and Barnes & Noble, respectively. “[Pershing] in conjunction or in partnership with Vornado… are coming after J.C. Penney to try to extract what they believe is more value in that stock,” according to the CNBC video above. “Whether there’s real real estate value with J.C. Penney, it’s something of an open question.” TRD