Coliseum site purchased for $345M.

With the $345 million sale of the former Coliseum site completed recently, developers are hoping to begin construction next month of Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle.

"The transfer of land ownership of New York's most significant development site solidly sets the foundation for the creation of the world's premier mixed-use complex," said Stephen Ross, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Related Companies, L.P., one of the project's development partners.

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority sold the 3.4-acre parcel to Columbus Centre LLC, which consists of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P., The Related Companies, L.P., Time Warner, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The Coliseum stood on the site since it opened as an exposition center in 1956. At that time, it represented a $35 million public investment by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.

The 2.8-million square foot mixed-use development with feature two 55-story, 750-foot-high towers overlooking Central Park. The $1.7 billion development will link midtown with the upper West Side and contain 203 luxury condominiums, the Mandarin Oriental Five-Star Luxury Hotel, the Palladium retail venue, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 193,000 square feet of Class A office space, and 548 parking spaces, developers said.

AOL Time Warner's world headquarters will be located in the center where CNN will broadcast pictures of the site to their world-wide audience from a state-of-the-art digital television production facility, developers said.

The Time Warner Center complex is estimated cost of a total of $1.7 billion, with GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation financing $1.3 billion and private sources funding the remaining $400 million. Funding for the land acquisition was provided, by five sources, including Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P., The Related Companies, L.P., a Time Warner financing vehicle, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation.

"Today's transfer of ownership further evidences the great cooperative effort by city and state officials and the private development entity Columbus Centre LLC," said William Mack, cofounder and senior partner of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P.

Developers and public officials unveiled designs for the complex at a ceremony last month. After demolishing the existing buildings, which is expected to be completed in September, developers will begin construction of the new complex. It is expected to be completed in 2003.