Taconic Investment Partners and National Real Estate Advisors teamed up to gain control – via a long-term ground lease – of the 1199SEIU union’s Times Square headquarters, where the partners plan to build a $250 million rental tower.
The joint venture plans to finalize a 99-year lease later this week for the parking lot at 311 West 42nd Street and the office building at 310 West 43rd Street, Crain’s reported.
The 1199SEIU healthcare workers’ union last year signed a lease to relocate its offices to George Comfort & Sons’ 498 Seventh Avenue.
Taconic chief investment officer Chris Balestra said the cost of the ground lease allows the partners to build a 35-story rental tower, rather than a condominium development that would likely be built if they had to buy the land outright.
“It’s extremely difficult to find rental residential sites in Manhattan,” he said. “This is the type of deal we’re always on the lookout for.”
The union will vacate the office space in two years. In the meantime, Taconic and National Real Estate Advisors will work on hiring an architect and designing the building, which will have about 60,000 square feet of retail space that the developers hope will capitalize on Times Square foot traffic.
The project is expected to be completed in 2022. Cushman & Wakefield’s Adam Spies and Kevin Donner arranged the ground lease. [Crain’s] – Rich Bockmann