Blackstone Group LP was on a shopping binge last year which made them 2015's top real estate buyer. The company acquired the biggest apartment building in Manhattan and bought major shares in various office properties such as the Starrett-LeHigh building located at the Hudson River.
According to Bloomberg, initial reports from Real Capital Analytics Inc. revealed that Blackstone recorded property acquisitions in New York amounting to $9.6 billion in 2015 and disposed many of its assets in the Manhattan area for $4.2 billion. However, the figures did not take into account the sale of the Waldorf-Astoria made by Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. which Blackstone had major stakes in when the deal was made. Real Capital also reported that the firm had a hand in 21 percent of commercial property sales made in Manhattan in 2015.
Blackstone is considered the biggest investor in private equity real estate and has recently increased its stake on the most expensive piece of U.S. property market, New York. Real Capital reported that the company did not even crack the top 10 list of buyers in the city in 2014.
Blackstone chief investment officer for real estate Ken Caplan said that the firm is planning to keep its pace in terms of investments in the city in 2016. He said via email, "Market volatility will certainly have an impact, but disruptions often present opportunities for those who have capital available to invest."
Meanwhile, in a report by The Real Deal, Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge have decided not get a third party company to handle the affairs of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, opting instead to form their own property management agency. Former manager of the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida Rick Hayduk began his stint as overseer of the 11,200-unit complex on Jan. 1 of this year.
