NEW YORK CITY—Property investor David Werner moved a step forward in his effort to acquire the leasehold interest in the Mobil Building—an asset he agreed to buy for $900 million back in April. Werner and another investor, Mark Karasick have secured a $700 million loan to purchase the iconic 1.8 million-square-foot tower, the Real Deal reports.
The financing, said to be one of the year's biggest deals, was provided by Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings in the form of a 10-year, fixed-rate, interest-only CMBS loan.and arranged by Meridian Capital Group and Eastdil Secured. “Despite substantial liquidity in the CMBS market and broad competition for this credit, Morgan Stanley won this opportunity by leveraging its ability to advance a loan of this size and complexity with exceptional speed and efficiency,” a spokesperson for Meridian told the Deal.
Eastdil broker Doug Harmon, who arranged the leasehold interest for Werner—along with broker Adam Spies—declined to comment to GlobeSt.com. As part of the acquisition deal, the Goelet family, which holds the fee position, also extended the ground lease for another 99 years.
The 42-floor, stainless-steel clad property, which sits between Lexington and Third avenues, is the New York headquarters of Wells Fargo. Mount Sinai Medical Center soon will move into 450,000 square feet in the tower's base.
Werner has been acquiring trophy properties in the city. He picked up 5 Times Square, Ernst & Young's headquarters, for a cool $1.5 billion back in June.
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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.
