J.P.Morgan Asset Management, a unit of JPMorgan Chase, has agreed to buy a posh 31-story office building in Manhattan, New York, for around $750 million. The building is one of the two office towers that are being auctioned off by major property firm, Hines.
According to Bloomberg, deal on the building is expected to be completed soon. Located at 425 Lexington Avenue, the structure is a 75,000 square feet office comprising of 31 stories. The building was designed by Murphy/Jahn Inc. Architects and was completed in 1987. Hines purchased the tower from Sumitomo Life Realty in 2003. The LEED registered building has 13,400 square feet of retail space and a net rentable area of 686,634 square feet.
The acquisition comes just a month after popular law firm, Simpson Thatcher and Bartlett, renewed their tenancy lease for the next 20 years. This deal raised the value of the property. According to Crains New York, before the lease was renewed, the tower was just another Manhattan office, but after the lease was inked, it became a far safer investment. This might be the reason why JPMorgan is purchasing the tower.
The other building for sale is 499 Park Avenue. It is not clear if that tower has found a buyer yet.
More recently in April, JPMorgan snagged another midtown Manhattan tower from a Boston properties Partnership for $420 million.
For now, everyone is waiting with bated breath as just two weeks from now, JPMorgan Chase will be holding its 2013 annual shareholder meeting. JPMorgan Chase profited the most under the leadership of James Jamie Dimon, who has been serving as both chairman and CEO of the company since 2006.
Currently, major shareholders and board members of the company are planning to split the chairmanship and CEO position, which might strip Dimon of either of his responsibilities. The members will meet and decide in their next annual board meeting.
"As we approach our annual meeting, we are conducting our normal shareholder outreach program, which offers an opportunity to review company matters with investors and which sometimes includes conversations with directors," Joe Evangelisti, a JPMorgan spokesman, said in an interview with the New York Times.
