Qatar Investment Authority buys into $8.6bn ‘Manhattan West’ project

Qatar Investment Authority has purchased a 44% interest in Brookfield Property Group’s Manhattan West development, a project which upon “completion and stabilization” is estimated to be valued at $8.6bn and is thus far backed by $2.13bn in financing from a consortium of bank lenders.

Manhattan West is a five-building, 7m sq ft development project on the west side of Manhattan, bounded by 31st and 33rd Streets and 9th and 10th Avenues and broken into six development phases.

Brookfield broke ground on the first phase, One Manhattan West, a 67-story, 2m sq ft office building anchored by tenant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, in April of last year, securing $1.2bn in financing co-led by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, The Bank of New York Mellon, and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Brookfield is investing $850m into the property, bringing its total cost to $2.1bn.

Additional financing secured so far includes a $479m loan from Bank of China and Union Labor and Life Insurance Co. on the 62-story, 844-unit apartment building Three Manhattan West, and a separate $400m loan from Wells Fargo for the redevelopment of a 1.8m sq ft, 16-story office building renamed Five Manhattan West.

Both sides of the transaction declined to disclose the Qatar Investment Authority’s monetary contribution, though Ric Clark, CEO of Brookfield Property Group, stated that “the sale of an interest in Manhattan West is consistent with our strategy of actively recycling capital by partnering with leading institutional capital providers.”

The three additional phases of the project are:

Two Manhattan West – A second 2m sq ft office tower constructed on-site following the lease-up of One Manhattan West.

Four Manhattan West – Initial plans envision a hotel or further residential units.

Central Plaza/Retail – The Manhattan West campus will be transected by a two-acre public park, creating a new “32nd Street” pedestrian thoroughfare, lined with green space and approximately 200,000 sq ft of retail, restaurants and amenities.