Bentall Kennedy, MEPT And Cove Property Group Announce Joint Venture Acquisition Of Two Rector Street In New York

BETHESDA, Md., March 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT), advised by Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership (Bentall Kennedy), in a joint venture with Cove Property Group LLC (Cove), has acquired Two Rector Street, New York, from CIM Group and the Kushner Companies. Two Rector Street is a 26 story, 476,000 sf office property located in the Financial District of Manhattan.

"We are very excited to work with Cove as our partner on this acquisition. Two Rector Street provides a tremendous opportunity to own and redevelop a unique Art Deco building in one of the most renowned and resurgent office submarkets in the world. The Financial District, and more specifically the World Trade Center area, has reemerged as a 24/7, highly amenitized live/work/play environment and we expect this trend to continue," said Kevin Rivest, Senior Vice President of Transactions at Bentall Kennedy.

"This acquisition reflects the Fund's primary urban market investment strategy and brings MEPT's total investment in the New York market to over $1.3 billion and more than 2.1 million square feet," stated David Antonelli, Executive Vice President and MEPT Portfolio Manager at Bentall Kennedy. "Two Rector Street aligns exceptionally well with the Fund's focus on responsible investment in transit-oriented locations serving knowledge industry tenants."

Bentall Kennedy and Cove intend to renovate and reposition the building as a Class A office property. "The Art Deco aesthetics, unique layout and six sides of light and views make Two Rector Street a truly unique office tower located in the most conveniently accessible area of Manhattan. Following our intended capital renovation program, which includes brand new elevators, mechanical systems and a redesigned lobby, we are confident that the property will attract the highest quality tenancy," said Kevin Hoo, founder and Managing Partner of Cove. 

Two Rector Street, located on the west side of Broadway on Rector Street between Greenwich Street and Trinity Place, offers flexible and divisible 14,000 to 18,700 sf floor plates in a unique U-shaped floor plan. Once renovated, Two Rector is expected to cater to technology, advertising, media and information (TAMI) and traditional financial, insurance and real estate (FIRE) tenants, and will be very well positioned to capitalize on the completion of infrastructure initiatives such as the World Trade Center transit hub and to participate fully in the ongoing transformative tenant relocation flow from Midtown and Midtown South.

About Bentall Kennedy

Bentall Kennedy, a Sun Life Investment Management company, is one of North America's largest real estate investment advisors and one of its foremost providers of real estate services. Bentall Kennedy serves the interests of more than 550 institutional clients and investors across office, retail, industrial, and multi-residential properties throughout Canada and the U.S. Bentall Kennedy is a member of UN PRI and is a recognized global leader in Responsible Property Investing. Bentall Kennedy includes Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership and Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership. For more information, visit www.bentallkennedy.com.

About Cove Property Group LLC

Cove Property Group ("Cove") is a New York City based, owner and operator of institutional quality real estate. Led by Kevin Hoo, Thomas Farrell and Amit Patel, Cove possesses over 50 years of combined global experience in direct property acquisition, development, leasing and asset management. Cove seamlessly integrates institutional quality ownership and management with an entrepreneurial culture.  Cove's principals have implemented over $10 billion worth of complicated development and redevelopment capital across 27 million square feet of projects globally. Within New York City, Cove principals have executed in excess of $2.0 billion worth of transactions for 2.5 million square feet of commercial real estate including the investment of over $700 million of equity capital and $500 million of transaction debt.  For more information please visit www.covepg.com.

About MEPT

Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) is a $7.5 billion, open-end commingled real estate equity fund that invests in a diversified portfolio of institutional-quality real estate assets in 25 major metropolitan markets across the U.S. Founded in 1982, MEPT is owned by more than 325 institutional investors, including 50 multi-employer and public employee plans in New York and New Jersey. Signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, MEPT is recognized as a pioneer in Responsible Property Investing (RPI) and has been consistently top-ranked in the U.S. by GRESB for its environmental performance. For more information, visit www.mept.com.

For more information, please contact:

For Bentall Kennedy:

Shaun Little
Director, Corporate Communications
Bentall Kennedy Group
416-681-2726 or [email protected]

For Cove Property Group LLC:

Kevin Hoo
Managing Partner
Cove Property Group
212 935 491 or [email protected]

SOURCE Bentall Kennedy

Related Links

http://www.bentallkennedy.com