The $1.25 billion refinancing of 3 Bryant Park last February wasn\u2019t only good news for owner Ivanhoe Cambridge and the 1.2 million square-foot office tower.<\/p>\n
Drew Isaacson, part of the JLL capital markets team that arranged the refi by Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Bank of Montreal, said it \u201ckicked off the return of the high-end lending market,\u201d which mostly sat on the sidelines as the office market struggled to recover from the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Since the 3 Bryant Park deal \u201csolidified that the lending market was open again,\u201d Isaacson said, Manhattan has seen one major investment-sale transaction after another. <\/p>\n
3 Bryant Park\u2019s $1.25 billion refinancing was completed in February. REDA\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The most notable was the $1.08 billion purchase of 590 Madison Avenue by RXR and Elliott Investment Management, the highest price paid for an office tower in more than three years.<\/p>\n
In that transaction, Eastdil Secured represented the seller, an Ohio pension fund, while Newmark advised RXR. But there\u2019s plenty of business to go around for other brokerages. <\/p>\n
For example, Isaacson and JLL\u2019s David Giancola handled the $160 million sale of the former Brooks Brothers Madison Avenue site and an adjacent property to SL Green, which closed last week, Isaacson said.<\/p>\n
The deals came in a third quarter that saw nearly $5 billion in Manhattan property sales, the highest for a single quarter since early 2022. <\/p>\n
Of that, JLL reported, $3.3 billion were in office assets \u2014 nearly double the second-quarter activity and a 74% year-over-year jump over the $1.9 billion volume in the third quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n
The $1.08 billion purchase of 590 Madison Avenue by RXR and Elliott Investment Management was the highest price paid for an office tower in more than three years. Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/p>\n
The year-to-date office volume was $7.1 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s now tremendous investor confidence in the high-quality office sector,\u201d Isaacson said. \u201cBalance-sheet lenders such as traditional banks and insurers were missing from the market, but they\u2019re coming back. Pension funds and other institutions are starting to lend directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Brooks Brothers Madison Avenue site was sold for $160 million in a deal that closed last week. J.C. RIce<\/p>\n
Noting that the largest recent buys were by publicly traded companies such as SL Green and Vornado, he said, \u201cThat cohort is now the dominant buying class, whereas twelve to twenty-four months ago, it was mostly private capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaacson sees only continued energy in the investment-sale market. Nor was he concerned about potential changes on the government front. \u201cThe underlying strength of the city overrides politics,\u201d he said confidently.<\/p>\n