Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group is set to sell the former Verizon building in Manhattan for more than $2 billion.
Located at 1095 Sixth Avenue, between 41st and 42nd streets and also known as 3 Bryant Park, the office tower has 1.2 million square feet over 41 stories. It first opened in 1974 and reaches a height of 630 feet.
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Verizon once occupied the entire building which is now home to companies like MetLife. Verizon is expected to reoccupy some of it starting in September. It has 99% occupancy.
Blackstone acquired the building as part of its $39 billion acquisition of Sam Zell’s Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007. It paid $1.47 billion for the tower. While they sold off most of the buildings that the company acquired at that time, Blackstone held onto 1095 Sixth Avenue and has spent an estimated $300 million on renovations over the last three years, during which its black and white marble cladding was replaced with a green glass curtain.
The expansion of its retail space from 11, 900 to 100, 000 square feet is almost complete. According to Bloomberg, Whole Foods Market Inc. is negotiating to sign for 35, 000 square feet of space there.
The building’s features include, on site management, on site parking, open 24/7, an outdoor public plaza and a sky lobby on 23rd Floor.
In other Blackstone news, Fortune is reporting that the firm is backing Arthur T. Demoulas’s agreement to purchase New England supermarket chain Market Basket.
