Bertelsmann, Jamestown Cinch $297M Leaseback

Michelle Napoli is editor of NET LEASE forum, which along with GlobeSt.com is a Real Estate Media online publication. Further details on this story will be available in next week’s issue of forum.

NEW YORK CITY-A quietly shopped and quietly closed $297 million sale-leaseback has left the office and retail condominium portion of Manhattan’s 1745 Broadway in the hands of German-funded investor Jamestown.

Random House Publishing, the international book publishing group owned by seller Bertelsmann Inc., will occupy the building’s 645,000 sf for 15 years under what has been described as essentially a triple-net lease with two, 10-year renewal options. The parent company guarantees the lease.

Located between Times Square and Central Park, the building also features 25 upper floors of residential space, which were not part of the transaction. The office and retail portions are on a ground lease, notes Stephen J. Zoukis, a partner in Atlanta-based Jamestown.With well-leased, well-located class A office buildings in high demand these days, it comes as no surprise that Zoukis reports plenty of interested parties bidding on the property. But, citing Bertelsmann’s “do-it-yourself point-of-view,” the seller did not widely market the property, he adds. Bertelsmann and Jamestown had a previous relationship from another real estate venture involving a distribution facility in South Carolina.

Bertelsmann’s head of communications said the private company generally does not comment on these matters. In a statement, CFO Siegfried Luther said, “Thanks to this successful transaction, we can further focus our financial resources on developing our businesses in the US and elsewhere as we maintain a long-term, state-of-the-art home for Random House. We generate roughly one-third of our total revenue in the US, and two of our core corporate divisions, Random House and BMG, are headquartered here.”

Jamestown typically invests in class A, trophy-type office buildings with a holding period of seven to 10 years. This latest acquisition brings its portfolio to 37 properties with more than 11 million sf valued at $3.5 billion. In New York, it also owns 1211 Ave. of the Americas, the Fox News Corp. headquarters building, Chelsea Market and One Times Square, the building from which the New Year’s Eve ball drops.

Says Zoukis: “1745 Broadway is another example of what has made Jamestown so successful in meeting our investors’ requirements over the years. It’s an excellent asset leased to an excellent credit tenant on a long-term lease.”