A group led by one of China's highest profile developers is in
advanced discussions to buy a 40% stake in the General Motors
Building in Manhattan, a 50-story tower that is one of the most
valuable buildings in the U.S., according to real-estate executives
with knowledge of the talks.
If completed, the deal by the family of Zhang Xin, principal of
office landlord Soho China Ltd. (0410.HK), and its partners would
value the tower at about $3.4 billion, the people said. That would
make it one of the largest acquisitions of a single U.S. property
by a Chinese investor.
Ms. Zhang declined to comment on the deal. The purchase of the
GM building stake would be made by her family and not by Soho
China, the real-estate executives said.
The property, which overlooks Central Park and the Plaza Hotel,
includes such tenants as Estee Lauder Cos. (EL) and the law firm
Weil Gotshal & Manges. It currently has about $1.6 billion in
debt held by third parties as well as another $450 million in debt
held by the existing owners.
The sellers include the sovereign wealth funds of Kuwait and
Qatar--both of which invested through a Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
(GS) fund--and an investor affiliated with the ruling family of
Dubai. They tapped commercial brokerage CBRE Group Inc. (CBG) to
market the stake.
The group that is negotiating with Ms. Zhang acquired its stake
in 2008 when it became partners with Boston Properties Inc. (BXP)
to buy the tower in a deal that valued it at $2.8 billion.
Boston Properties currently controls the building and would keep
its 60% stake if the sale to Ms. Zhang is finalized.
(Jeffrey Ng contributed to this article.)
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