The famous Socony-Mobil building located at 150 East 37th Street in New York City has reportedly sold for a whopping $900 million to famous real estate investor David Werner.
The building was put on the open market by Eastdil Secured LLC last month. One of the oldest and most prized trophy buildings in the area, the structure garnered widespread interest from sovereign wealth funds, real estate trusts and pension funds. The deal was about to close Thursday but Werner, who is leading a group of investors, came ahead with a larger offer, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The 1.7 million-square-foot, 42-level commercial purpose building was constructed in the 1950s and served as the headquarters of Socony Mobil Oil Company, now known as Exxon Mobil. The oil and gas giant vacated the building in the 1980s and sold it to Hiro Real Estate LLC, a Japanese property firm, for $240 million.
Hiro was planning on selling the building to Tishman Speyer in 2008 for $400 million. However, the deal fell apart after the market crashed, and Goldman Sachs reportedly loaned a huge amount of money to help the structure stay afloat.
The amount that Werner paid for the building does not cover the loan, people familiar with the deal told the Journal.
While Werner will now become the owner of the building, the land on which the structure stands operates on a leasehold. The Goelet family owns the land and recently extended the lease to another 99 years.
The Socony-Mobil building is 90 percent occupied, with Mount Sinai Hospital, a medical center, and Wells Fargo occupying 500,000 square feet of space each, reports The Commercial Observer. Rents in the building average $58 to $65 per square foot, according to CoStar Inc.
Completely clad in stainless steel, the building was landmarked "impressive skyscraper" in 2003 and appeared in several critics' "ugliest buildings" list, according to New York Architecture. Elevators on the top few floors of the building reportedly operate at 1,200 feet per minute.
Dan Fasulo, managing director at New York-based Real Capital Analytics Inc., told Businessweek of the building, "this is exactly the type of asset the market is clamoring for right now."
