NEW YORK CITY—When Rockwood Capital announced Friday that it was selling 530 Fifth Ave.—along with partners Jamestown, Murray Hill Properties, and Crown Acquisitions—managing director Joe Gorin had nothing but praise for the building.
He noted its “dynamic location, architectural features” and the fact that the office building is “well-located real estate that provides an opportunity to outperform over the long-term. However, the joint venture owners apparently set out to refurbish and reposition the building when they purchased it in 2011 and that effort—coupled with sharp market timing—made the property primed for sale now, Gorin revealed to GlobeSt.com in this UPDATE.
“Rockwood's and our partners' original investment thesis was to invest in the repositioning of a prominent retail and office asset at a time when office demand growth and retail rents along this prime swath of Fifth avenue were improving,” he notes. “By successfully executing building improvements, tenant buyouts, and our leasing program, we were able to deliver a reinvented asset into a robust tenant and capital markets environment. This confluence of factors led us to initiate a monetization effort and we are very pleased with the results.”
As well they should be. The Rockwood JV picked up the building for about $390 million and it sold last week for $595 million. But this case of striking while the iron is hot isn't just a one-off move, it's a linchpin of Rockwood's local strategy, Gorin says. “There are always opportunities to create value in real estate; you just need to be informed, strategic and nimble. New York City has been—and remains—a major target market for Rockwood."
The building was purchased by an investor group led by Thor Equities that included RXR Realty. The latter firm also is said to be handling leasing. Representatives for both firms did not return calls by press time.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
