Tribeca Associates Acquires Long Term Leasehold Interest in Iconic Bush Tower Office Building in Bryant Park Corridor

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribeca Associates, LLC, a New York-based acquisition and development company, announced the acquisition of a long-term leasehold interest in the historic Bush Tower office building located in the heart of the Bryant Park Office Corridor. The iconic neo-gothic 30-story tower – one of the first skyscrapers constructed in Midtown Manhattan – will be known going forward as 130 West 42^nd Street at Bryant Park. The acquisition financing was provided by Mesa West Capital.

Tribeca Associates in partnership with Meadow Partners, an international real estate investor and asset manager, acquired the leasehold interest from American Properties. The team will now undertake a campaign to upgrade and reposition this unique asset to capitalize on its ideal location and unique attributes.

"We are delighted to have acquired the leasehold interest in the property with its proximity to Bryant Park and its adjacency to some of the finest office product in Midtown including 1 Bryant Park, 1095 Avenue of the Americas and 4 Times Square," said Elliott Ingerman, principal of Tribeca Associates. "We will be able to offer boutique-size tenants a full-floor presence in one of the most desired locations in Midtown and at the crossroads of all major public transportation."

American Properties, the lessor, has owned the property since 1983, managing it through the transformation of Times Square and Bryant Park to the thriving areas they are now.  Among other things American Properties added windows to several facades to improve natural light and views.

"This is a wonderful asset and we're pleased to entrust its further development to great partners like Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners," said Marwan Dalloul of American Properties. "We've discussed the plans over a long period of time, and we believe in their vision for taking the property to the next level.  130 West 42^nd Street at Bryant Park will be even better positioned to compete in the boutique office market in this stellar location."

Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners, the new ownership team, have tapped architects Fogarty Finger, to direct the further revitalization of 130 West 42nd street. The project will include a glass facade for the two-story 42nd Street entrance along with a new, modern lobby and elevators. Ownership will also prebuild floors to highlight the building's distinctive architectural details such as 12-foot clear ceiling heights, dramatic oversized windows, efficient layouts and exceptional natural light and views on four sides. "It is rare to find full floors of 5,000 square feet in Midtown with this level of inherent beauty," noted architect Robert Finger.

"This is a historic mid-block building that will be renovated and reintroduced to the market with the efficient floor plate of a modern tower, and the light and air you'd expect in a corner Avenue building," said Tim Yantz principal of Meadow Partners. "130 West 42nd street is really a sort of buried treasure, and we are excited to unearth, polish and reintroduce it to the market."

In addition, the retail on block has been transformed over the last few years with the introduction of global brands like H&M and Equinox. As this trend continues 130 West 42^nd street will be ideally located to attract some of the best retailers in the world.

"We were drawn by Tribeca's impressive plans to reposition Bush Tower as a one-of-a-kind building located in one of the strongest performing submarkets in New York City," added Raphael Fishbach, a principal in the New York City office of Mesa West Capital. "This is an excellent addition to our New York loan portfolio, as we continue to grow our lending platform on the East Coast. We are excited to add Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners to our expanding roster of New York City based clients."

Completed in 1918, Bush Tower began the movement of the Manhattan business district to Midtown. Noted for its combined narrowness, height and Neo Gothic architecture, the tower played a role in the evolution of Times Square and New York skyscrapers. The building was initially owned by Irving T. Bush and was designed as a commercial display gallery and social space, to be an epicenter for international trade, bringing buyers, manufacturers and designers together. The building's distinct architectural details such as trompe l'oeil brickwork, crowning pavilion and two-story arched window are well noted.

Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners have hired the CBRE team of David Hollander, Paul Walker and Christie Harle as Exclusive Leasing Agents for the property.

Tribeca Associates, founded in 2000, specializes in the acquisition and development of hospitality, residential and commercial assets in Manhattan.  Most notably, the firm is currently developing the Baccarat Hotel & Residences at 20 West 53rd Street. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the five-star hotel and luxury condominium is scheduled for completion in 2014.  In addition, Tribeca Associates is developing the Marriott Residence Inn World Trade Center at 170 Broadway in an adaptive reuse of an existing office property.  The company also developed the Smyth Hotel and Residences, a luxury mixed use property in Tribeca and Artisan Lofts an adaptive reuse of an office building into luxury residential among other projects.

Meadow Partners is an international real estate investment firm founded in 2009 by former Westbrook managing principal Jeff Kaplan and his two partners, Tim Yantz and Andrew McDaniel. The firm has offices in New York City and London. Currently, Meadow Partners is investing its second fully discretionary fund, with a focus on the New York and London metropolitan areas. The firm targets middle-market transactions with opportunistic returns, investing in all property types, structures, and positions throughout the capital structure.  Capitalizing on the firm's flexible strategy, extensive network of relationships and access to proprietary deal flow, Meadow Partners acquires real estate assets that generate the highest potential risk-adjusted returns.

Los Angeles-based Mesa West Capital (www.mesawestcapital.com) is a privately held portfolio lender with a current capital base of approximately $3.5 billion. Mesa West has an established debt platform that continues to provide flexible and reliable capital for real estate acquisitions, re-financings and re-capitalizations on office, retail, industrial, multifamily and hotels in the United States.

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