Clarion acquires 100-104 Fifth Ave. for $230 million

Real estate investment manager Clarion Partners, LLC has acquired 100-104 Fifth Ave. for $230 million. Clarion, which purchased the 277,412 s/f Midtown South building from the Kaufman Org. and Invesco Real Estate, has retained Kaufman as the property's exclusive leasing and managing agent. The sale was handled by Studley's capital transaction group. 100-104 Fifth Ave. is comprised of two contiguous buildings that were originally designed for a single tenant in 1906 and 1911. All floors are structurally aligned, facilitating a flexible response to tenant demand, with the potential to offer individual or combined floor plates in a loft-style plan. The property is fully leased to well established tenants in the Midtown South submarket representing a variety of industries. "100 Fifth Ave. is one of the top institutional-quality assets in the Midtown South submarket," saidGary Rufrano, a director at Clarion Partners. "The class A vacancy rate in the area is just 3.2% and with limited potential for new competition, we are very pleased with this addition to our portfolio." Tenants gravitating to Midtown South - technology, media, design and advertising companies - prefer the unique floor plates and open design environments characteristic of Midtown South. The Kaufman Org. and Invesco purchased the building in late 2010 and implemented a capital improvement campaign to reposition the property by modernizing the lobby and the building systems, including the passenger elevators, security and HVAC. The Kaufman Org. was then responsible for attracting creative and new media companies to the property. "After repositioning, rebranding and leasing the property, our partnership decided that this was the right time to sell 100 - 104 Fifth Ave. and that Studley was the right firm to market it. The Midtown South market is active and we believe that investors from across the country want to own here. This sale marks one of the largest deals in the neighborhood so far this year," said Fred Leffel of Kaufman Org. "We're happy to still lend our expertise to the building by staying on as the leasing and managing agent." Woody Heller of Studley said, "The interest in Midtown South properties among institutional investors has grown exponentially over the last several years. This is entirely justified by the appeal of the area and spaces to many of the city's fastest-growing tenants."