April 18, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A consortium led by Korean firm Hangang Asset Management has invested about 180 billion won (US$160.54 million) to acquire a building occupied by Facebook in New York, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Aug. 28.

Hangang Asset invested in a mezzanine debt on the interconnected office building located south of Manhattan on 225-233 Park Avenue South, New York. 

225-233 Park Avenue South, New York.

The mezzanine tranche is part of US$430 million in loans originated by Orda Management Corp., a US property management firm, to cover renovation and other costs. Orda has owned the two buildings since 1954 and the buildings are combined through a shared stairwell with a lease space of 60,000 square meters.

The Midtown South district where the building is located has been gradually transforming into the Silicon Valley of New York with IT companies such as Google and Alibaba occupying buildings in the area. The 225-233 Park Avenue building also houses BuzzFeed and other tech companies along with Facebook while demonstrating a zero percent vacancy rate. For its investment in the building, Hangang Asset is expected to receive an expected annual return of around 5 percent for a 10-year investment period.

Due to its specialty in overseas investments, Hangang Asset has been spearheading numerous Korean backed real estate investments. In March 2017, the company invested 100 billion won in an Amazon-occupied building in Seattle and in May, the company acquired an office building in Canberra, Australia, for 60 billion won.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@herladcorp.com)