Jamestown Properties has financed the iconic Chelsea Market mixed-use project in Manhattan with a $380 million loan arranged by CBRE Capital Markets. The borrower used the proceeds to buy out its partners in the property, Angelo, Gordon & Co., Belvedere Capital and original Chelsea Market developer Irwin Cohen.
Chelsea Market, at 75 Ninth Ave., is a cluster of 15 former Nabisco industrial buildings that have been converted into 1.18 million sq. ft. of office and retail space.
The property sits on 3.79 acres, encompassing an entire city block bounded by 15th and 16th streets and 9th and 10th avenues within the Chelsea submarket. The building was 99% occupied at closing.
In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that Jamestown had agreed to buy out its partners in Chelsea Market for $225 million, and planned to add a 300,000 sq. ft. tower to the project.
Some 780,000 sq. ft. in the buildings are leased to technology and media companies, including Google and Food Network owner Scripps Networks. Other tenants include Major League Baseball, EMI and Anthropologie.
Constructed between 1890 and 1932, the structures were completely renovated between 1994 and 1997, with continuing architectural enhancements and modifications through 2011.
Representing Jamestown was CBRE’s debt and equity finance team that included Jeff Ackemann, executive vice president; Will Yowell, institutional group vice chairman; Justin Parsonnet, executive vice president; Jay O’Meara, senior vice president; and Steve O’Brien, senior analyst.
Germany-based bank Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg provided the financing.
Jamestown, a private equity fund manager based in Atlanta, previously owned a majority stake in 111 Eighth Ave., across the street from Chelsea Market. Google purchased 111 Eighth Ave. for $1.9 billion in 2010. Jamestown is also the owner of 1 Times Square and other high-profile real estate. It purchased more than $500 million in assets during 2010 alone.
