Random House HQ in Manhattan sold for $509 Million

CoStar Group - November 21, 2006

The Witkoff Group will be adding another New York City office to its holdings. The buzz is that the New York real estate investment firm has just landed the 675,000-square-foot office at 1745 Broadway that serves as the world headquarters for publishing giant Random House for $509 million, or roughly $754 per square foot.

The leasehold office condo at Broadway and 56th Street was put on the market by Jamestown recently. Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured marketed the property for sale. He also handled the $1.52 billion sale of 1211 Avenue of the Americas and the $1.25 billion sale of 1290 Avenue of the Americas for Jamestown earlier this year.

The 50-story property is a mixed-use building with 25 floors of residential space and 90,000 square feet of retail space. The sale only included the office component, floors two through 25, which Bertelsmann AG leases on behalf of Random House on a triple-net lease that runs until 2018.

The Related Cos. developed the property in 2001. Jamestown acquired the office portion in 2003 for $297 million or $458.33 per square foot in a sale-leaseback with Bertelsmann. The German media giant has the option to extend the lease by another 20 years.

The sale is part of Jamestown's new strategy to monetize some of its core holdings and pursue more opportunistic investments, targeting markets in the Southeast. Sphere: Related Content