Broad St. spree continues with $82m Broadway buy.

Broad Street Development, an investor group led by Raymond Chalme, and Crow Holdings Realty Partners IV, a Dallas, Texas-based private equity fund, acquired 55 Broadway in downtown Manhattan for $82 million from China's Bank of Communications.

The sale of the Class A office property was negotiated by Michael Forrest and David Shorenstein of Marcus & Millichap in an off-market deal.

In less than two years, Broad Street has acquired six major real estate assets totaling over 1.5 million square feet, a milestone for this investor group. Chalme, president of Broad Street Development, made the announcement.

"This aggressive acquisition strategy was always our goal, and the purchase of 55 Broadway presented another ideal opportunity to further our firm's mission of repositioning underserved assets," commented Chalme.

"We've long been dedicated to Downtown and have experienced unprecedented results with 61 Broadway, increasing occupancy to 98% in the last year and a half. We look forward to the same kind of success at our newest property."

Located on the northeast corner of Broadway and Exchange Place, 55 Broadway is a 32-story Class A office building consisting of approximately 336,000 square feet of space in Downtown's Financial District. Built in 1983 by Howard Ronson and designed by Fox and Fowle the buildings infrastructure is one of the newer buildings available in the market. It offers tenants exceptional light, air and sweeping views, with 10,000 square-foot floor plates easily divisible for multi-tenant use, while also providing full-floor occupancy to such prestigious firms as LeBranche & Co., Kellogg Capital Group and Bank of Communication. Currently, the property is 85 percent occupied, I with tenants from a variety of sectors and ranging in space from 5,000 square feet to 36,000 square feet.

Chalme and his partner, executive vice president Daniel M. Blanco, announced plans to reposition the asset to raise tenant occupancy by pre-building office suites and increasing the size and appeal of its underutilized retail component.

"The acquisition of 55 Broadway, provides a unique leasing opportunity, providing existing and potential tenants with the hands on ownership and leasing functions of their downtown headquarters," commented Blanco.

"This property is an ideal fit for our portfolio and for our in-house asset management skills." Broad Street's other properties are located throughout Manhattan, including the 675,000 s/f office tower at 61 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, a 300,000 s/f office property at 370 Lexington just blocks from Grand Central Station, a 31-story residential tower at 1438 Third Avenue on the Upper East Side, and a 140-unit residential condominium conversion at 184 Thompson Street in the heart of Greenwich Village.

Mike Tepedino and Steven Klein of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP's arranged the equity financing with Crow Holdings and the debt financing with Cigna for the purchase of the asset. Eli D. Dweck of Wachtel & Masyr, LLP worked on behalf of Broad Street Development on all legal matters for the acquisition.

Broad Street was joined in acquiring this asset by Crow Holdings Realty Partners IV which is the fourth private equity fund sponsored by Crow Holdings.

Crow Holdings is the group of international, diversified investment companies that owns and directs the investments of the Trammell Crow family and its investment partners. Crow Holdings through Fund IV is seeking to acquire a diversified portfolio of domestic real estate including office, warehouses, retail, multifamily, hotels and land.