Under Contract to Purchase 149 Madison Avenue with Plans to Fully Reposition Building as Modern Boutique Office
Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CXP) has reached an agreement to purchase 149 Madison Avenue, a 127,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan, from a private family owner. Price was not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
149 Madison is located in the heart of the NoMAD district of Midtown South on the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Madison Avenue. Built in 1916, the 12-story building is subject to a ground lease that expires in January 2018 with fully coterminous tenant leases. At expiration, Columbia will own a fee simple interest in the land and building. Columbia plans to invest significant capital to perform a comprehensive renovation of the property, including updating and upgrading its infrastructure, interior and exterior finishes, and common areas throughout.
“149 Madison offers a compelling opportunity to leverage our scale and expertise in New York at an attractive discount to replacement cost and to create value through repositioning and re-leasing the full building,” said Nelson Mills, president and CEO of Columbia Property Trust. “With over $600 million in proceeds available from our recently completed disposition program, the purchase of 149 Madison is a promising start to our plan to put capital to work in our target markets.”
Adam Popper, senior vice president for Columbia in the Eastern region, continued, “The expiration of both the ground lease and existing tenant leases at 149 Madison offer us a rare opportunity to renovate the entire building and mark to market rates on every floor, providing strong upside potential. We have already begun preparations to reposition this building over the next 18-24 months so that it will compete among the best product in the submarket.”
When completed, the acquisition of 149 Madison Avenue will be Columbia’s second asset in the Midtown South market and will provide the Company with a portfolio of five office properties totaling two million rentable square feet in the New York City area.
Eastdil Secured and Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction.
About Columbia Property Trust
Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) owns and operates Class-A office buildings primarily in high-barrier-to-entry, primary markets. Our portfolio includes 16 office properties containing eight million square feet, concentrated in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Columbia carries an investment-grade rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. For more information, please visit www.columbia.reit.
