Midtown and IDB Acquire HSBC Bank in NY

Midtown Equities and Israeli holding company IDB GROUP recently acquired HSBC Bank USA’s headquarters.  Located at 452 Fifth Avenue in New York, between 39th and 40th Streets, the building is 29 stories and offers 865,000 square feet.

Joseph Cayre, founder and principal of Midtown Equities said this is just the first deal that his company and IDB Group will make together.  Currently the team is working on six or seven projects in New York alone where they are “either buying buildings outright or buying first mortgage notes from banks.”  Another project that is being looked into is the purchase of HSBC’s international headquarters buildings in London and Paris.

As for the New York 452 Fifth Avenue establishment, Cayre said that the top 18 floors will be vacant in 2011 and he already has two separate parties interested in signing a lease for them.  As for the lower 11 floors, HSBC will continue to occupy them for a 10-year term.  That deal went for $330 million, which approximately equals $400 per square foot.

The acquisition had been in the works since April and as Cayre noted, “I think it’s a fabulous buy. There haven’t been any deals this size lately in New York, and a lot of people are hesitant to buy, but we’re quite bullish on New York City and we thought, ‘this is the time to start buying.’”

Via: The Real Deal