Crown Properties acquire 61 Broadway

Real Estate Weekly, Feb 4, 1998

Crown Properties, Inc., one of the country's most active private real estate owners and investors, has announced the acquisition of 61 Broadway in Manhattan, a 652,000 square-foot office building. The announcement was made by Davar Rad, president of Crown Properties.

"With recent major capital improvements, state-of-the-art mechanical and electrical systems and a convenient, coveted location in the heart of the Financial District, 61 Broadway is one of the premiere addresses in Downtown Manhattan," said Rad. "We are proud to add such a distinguished property to our growing portfolio,"

The property, with such prestigious tenants as Merrill Lynch and MetLife, is currently 92 percent occupied, but in the next three months, lease change-overs will leave the building with 150,000 square feet of vacant space. The exclusive leasing agent for the property, LaSalle Partners, is aggressively marketing 61 Broadway, targeting mid-sized tenants ranging in size from 5,000 to 50,000 square feet.

The property, located midway between the New York and American Stock Exchanges and two doors south of Wall Street, recently underwent an award-winning $20 million renovation, with lobby, core and HVAC systems upgrades. Crown Properties is investing another $2 million in capital improvements, including renovations to the elevator systems. In addition, 61 Broadway has an enormous electrical capacity able to meet the needs of even the most technologically-sophisticated corporations.

"61 Broadway also boasts 15,000 square feet of prime retail space, the largest block of contiguous retail space in the area," said Rad. "We are currently looking for a quality big box tenant to occupy the entire space."

In addition to its standing as one of the premier buildings in the Financial District, 61 Broadway boasts a most unusual feature. "The building used to provide heat for surrounding buildings through huge boilers in its basement," explained Rad. "The soot from the boilers was cooled by the water table positioned directly under the building, creating warm water. The water soon be came a breeding ground for goldfish. A building engineer first spotted the goldfish (which are now very large) over 10 years ago, and still continues to feed them through a trap door in the basement floor. I don't know of any other building in Manhattan boasting this unique amenity."

Crown Properties owns more than five million square feet of office properties throughout the United States. The firm, founded in 1982, specializes in identifying investment opportunities that offer the opportunity to enhance values through vigilant asset management campaigns, including capital improvement and marketing programs.