(NEW YORK) – The New York office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that it has retained both Eastdil Secured and CBRE Group, Inc. to market for sale in a collaborative process two of Midtown Manhattan’s premier office buildings, 499 Park Avenue and 425 Lexington Avenue.
“499 Park Avenue, also referred to as the Black Diamond, and the statuesque 425 Lexington Avenue, home to the world headquarters of law firm Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLC, offer investors an unparalleled combination of boutique and corporate excellence,” said Darcy Stacom, CBRE vice chairman.
“These two Hines trophies present a rare opportunity to be acquired as a portfolio, or individually, and should command worldwide attention,” said Eastdil’s Senior Managing Director Douglas Harmon.
The buildings are being marketed on behalf of the owner, Hines U.S. Core Office Fund.
“We have had outstanding success with these two assets over the last 10 years in terms of investment performance, and the interest we expect both locally and globally only reinforces our continuing commitment to New York City as the world’s preeminent global real estate location,” said Hines’ Senior Managing Director for the New York office, Tommy Craig.
499 Park Avenue, designed by I.M. Pei, is one of New York’s finest boutique trophy office towers. The property is 28 stories of sleek black glass and totals approximately 300,000 square feet of prime office and retail space. Its location is irreplaceable at the southeast corner of 59th Street and Park Avenue, at the convergence of Manhattan’s two foremost submarkets, Plaza District and Park Avenue. Built in 1980, the building has consistently garnered some of the highest rental rates in the city and has attracted leading boutique firms that seek the prestige and elegance of a Park Avenue address. They are also drawn to the tower’s ideal floor sizes of 11,000 square feet, as well as its protected views of Central Park and the Upper East Side.
One of the Grand Central market’s newest and most prominent buildings, 425 Lexington Avenue, built in 1987, is a 31-story office tower containing 750,000 square feet of office and retail space. The building is currently 100 percent leased to Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLC and CIBC. Offering optimal floor plates ranging from 18,000 to 36,600 square feet, the building provides a rare Manhattan amenity—gardened terraces on the 7th, 8th and 9th floors.
 425 Lexington Avenue occupies the entire easterly block front between 43rd and 44th streets, and is situated directly across from Grand Central Terminal and the world-renowned Chrysler Building.
In addition to Eastdil Secured’s Harmon and CBRE’s Stacom, Adam Spies and Kevin Donner of Eastdil Secured, and Bill Shanahan and Paul Gillen of CBRE, will be instrumental in the marketing effort.
About CBRE Group, Inc.Â
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2012 revenue).
The company has approximately 37,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
About Eastdil Secured
Eastdil Secured is the preeminent real estate investment banking company that uniquely combines capital markets expertise with an in-depth understanding of real estate fundamentals to execute a wide range of real estate transactions to meet the needs of our clients.
Eastdil Secured, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank (NYSE: WFC), is one of the most active investment property sales, debt placement and commercial mortgage sales firms in the country. Eastdil Secured is also a leader in raising debt and equity in the public markets and raising private equity and entity recapitalizations through its broker dealer affiliate, Wells Fargo Securities. The firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Richmond, Irvine, San Jose, Boston, London and Hong Kong.
About Hines
Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,208 properties representing more than 488 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.
With offices in 104 cities in 18 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23.8 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.