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It is officially the end of an era for one of Fifth Avenue’s best-known retail buildings.
WeWork Property Investors closed on the purchase of the Lord & Taylor building on Fifth Avenue for $850M from Hudson's Bay Co., the company announced Monday morning. The real estate investment fund is jointly controlled by WeWork parent The We Company and Rhône Capital.
A spokesperson for WeWork said in a statement that the transaction will “bring new life” to the building and "reflects the evolution of the We Company, the diversification of our real estate strategy and the company's ongoing transition from an occupier to an operator of space."
The We Company announced the purchase back in 2017, but it was reportedly still looking for financing for the purchase almost a year later. However, JPMorgan Chase, Starwood Property Trust and another lender last week agreed to provide a $900M loan for the purchase and renovation, The Real Deal reports.
About $600M will become available to the company at the closing and the rest of the money will be used to revamp the 103-year-old building. Lord & Taylor, which originally agreed to lease back three floors of the building to continue operating its flagship department store, instead closed its century-old space after the holidays.
Architect Bjarke Ingels, hired as WeWork's chief architect in the aftermath of the Lord & Taylor deal, will lead the redesign of the 650K SF building at 424 Fifth Ave.
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