Blackstone sells Manhattan office for $516m, buys portfolio for $700m

The Blackstone Group has sold the office portion of 217–247 W. 43rd St. in Manhattan’s Times Square for $516 million.

Columbia Property Trust will own the floors between four and 16. The purchase is expected to close within 30 days. The deal will be funded by a $300 million six-month bridge loan and short-term borrowings. Nearly 98 percent leased, the first-year net operating income is projected to be $22.3 million.

Blackstone bought the office portion of the 16-story building at 229 W. 43rd St. in 2011 for $160 million. It invested $105 million in renovations, which served as the headquarters of the New York Times Co. from 1913 to 2007. Yahoo! Inc. leased four floors in 2013.

The acquisition follows Columbia’s $366 million purchase of the office space at 315 Park Ave. S. The office was part of a two-property portfolio sale acquired from Spear Street Capital for $426 million,.

In other news, Blackstone has purchased a 1,492-