Trophy Changes Hands with Sale of NYC’s 650 Madison Avenue

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

New York—There are structures for which the term “trophy building” is apropos, and Manhattan’s 650 Madison Avenue is one. Designed in 1957 by celebrated architecture firm Harrison & Abramovitz and situated in the center of Midtown’s Plaza District, New York City’s most exclusive submarket, 650 Madison Avenue is an iconic 27-story glass and steel office and retail tower.

The trophy has now passed into new owners‘ hands, with the acquisition of 650 Madison Avenue by Crown Acquisitions and Highgate from global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group. The purchase price was $1.3 billion.

“We had a strong conviction in the underlying value of this property when we acquired it during the Great Recession,” says Carlyle Managing Director Andrew Chung. “We are pleased to capitalize on the success of our active repositioning and leasing plan.”

Adds Robert Stuckey, Carlyle managing director and head of U.S. real estate: “We are delighted to reach this agreement with Crown and Highgate, two of the smartest real estate owners around, on the sale of 650 Madison Avenue. This is a great outcome for our investors, and validates our opportunistic approach.”

The Class A property encompasses the entire westerly block-front on Madison Avenue between 59^th and 60^th Streets, and features three components.

The first is a 425,000-square-foot Class A office tower. A second is the 100,000-square-foot custom medical-office space. The final component is 75,000 square feet of retail space with 200 feet of Madison Avenue frontage.

A capital improvement program completed earlier this year resulted in a bespoke lobby, marquis canopy, super-transparent glass curtain wall entrance and new common area and elevators, designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects.

Since it acquired the building five years ago, The Carlyle Group has leased 400,000 square feet at 650 Madison Avenue.