After picking up Far West Side site for $167M, McCourt is negotiating on another NYC deal
January 01, 2014
By Katherine Clarke
Frank McCourt
In August, his real estate firm acquired a development site on Manhattan’s Far West Side for $167 million. That was more than triple the price paid for the site in 2011 by the previous owners, a partnership between Sherwood Equities and Long Wharf Real Estate Partners.
“We were trying to figure out, do we want to become more of a development company or more of a buy-and-hold real estate company?” Wilhelm explained. “Frank kept coming back to sexy development deals and the idea of building important buildings. There were some trophy assets that we were looking to do on a buy-and-hold basis in big cities, which also piqued his fancy, but these mixed-use developments, which had residential up top and office and retail at the bottom became a recurring theme.”
Indeed, the transaction was sexy, especially since the land was valued so much higher than the $42 million that the Sherwood partnership paid British banking giant Barclays for it in 2011. (Barclays wrested control of the site earlier from developer Gary Barnett.)
McCourt plans to construct a 730,000-square-foot tower that will include residential condominiums on top and retail on bottom. What’s in between is still undecided; the fund is debating between office and hotel use, McCourt said. Once that’s set, McCourt may solicit submissions from potential architects. A construction start date has not yet been determined.
356 10th Avenue, where McCourt is planning on constructing a 730,000-square-foot mixed-use building
Former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who made his early fortune as a Boston developer, has made his first major New York purchase: a roughly $167 million development site on Manhattan’s West Side.
Mr. McCourt plans soon to begin developing on the site of what would be his largest real-estate development ever.
His plans call for a 730,000-square-foot tower on the site, which would include both residential and office space, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans.
The property sits in the heart of a new $15 billion office and residential district planned for the city’s far West Side
McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, made his New York real estate debut with the acquisition of the site last year for $167 million, more than three times what seller Sherwood Equities and Long Wharf Real Estate Partners paid in 2011. The deal is one of the biggest bets yet on the Hudson Yards neighborhood.
“We are very pleased to have the world-class team at Hines join us on 360 Tenth,” Drew McCourt, president of MG Properties, said in a statement. “The addition of SHoP’s creativity and innovation is a significant enhancement to the project as we look to blend the residential, retail, and commercial elements into an architecturally-significant addition to the North Chelsea/Hudson Yards neighborhood.”
Vishaan Chakrabarti, a partner at SHoP, said in a statement that the firm hoped to “create a building that evokes the best of historic Chelsea while making a strong contemporary addition to the skyline.”
I stumbled across this rendering on McCourt’s website. Unfortunately, it’s only a more detailed rendering of the old design under Sherwood Equities. http://www.mg.com/mgproperties/projects/
MG-Hines & SHoP partnership will definitely make something beautiful here.
It would be amazing if they could connect the high line spur to 360 Tenth and on the other side connect to Manhattan West breezeway, that way you’ll never have the need to go down to street level to cross between the developments from the high line.
Not much of an update but I noticed yesterday that they had new permits. Upon closer inspection it was just to update the permit for the construction fence. I think some of the fencing is new though and has more spots to peek inside.
I read somewhere, i can’t remember where that Hines may have gotten out of the project as partner. Anyone can confirm?
Looking forward to see McCourt to start! Would be fantastic if he can run a connection from Manhattan West through 360 Tenth to connect to the Highline Spur.
