Related and GreenOak acquire two commercial assets in Long Island City

Related Fund Management and GreenOak today announced that they have formed a joint venture and acquired two marquee commercial assets in Long Island City: the Paragon Building and the Blanchard Building. Both buildings are located in the Hunter’s Point corridor of Long Island City and offer convenient access to the No. 7 subway, Long Island Railroad and Midtown Manhattan. The partnership will make significant investments to reposition the buildings and provide a modern, open plan office environment. They have retained Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, led by Vice Chairman Brian Waterman to oversee the leasing of the properties and Studios Architecture for the design work.

Justin Metz, managing principal of Related Fund Management, said, “These two assets were an ideal fit for our execution-based strategy and will draw on our development and operational expertise as we transform these buildings into well amenitized, Class A office space. Long Island City is quickly becoming one of the most desirable neighborhoods to live and work, and these buildings, adjacent to both the subway and LIRR, are ideally located to attract tenants and talent from the region.”

Sonny Kalsi, founder and partner of GreenOak, said, “We continue to be very active investing in New York City, as it is part of our core strategy of building scale in a handful of global gateway cities. We are excited about investing with a world-class operator in a rapidly improving office location and are confident in our ability to jointly reposition these two assets.”

Brian Waterman added, “These buildings offer a unique opportunity for modern office space in one of New York’s most sought-after locations. They are ideally located to draw creative, technology and corporate tenants and will offer premier amenities in a 24/7 neighborhood.”

The seven-story Paragon Building, located directly above the No. 7 subway station on 21-00 49th Avenue, had most recently been used as a storage facility and will be reimagined as a Class A office building with all new windows, elevators and a penthouse roof terrace with incredible city views. Expected delivery is summer 2017. Renovations to the seven-story Blanchard Building will include significant upgrades to the building’s aesthetics, mechanical systems and amenity packages.

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About Related:
Related Companies is the most prominent privately-owned real estate firm in the United States. Formed over 40 years ago, Related is a fully-integrated, highly diversified industry leader with experience in virtually every aspect of development, acquisitions, management, finance, marketing and sales. Headquartered in New York City, Related has offices and major developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, South Florida, Washington D.C., Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai and boasts a team of approximately 3,000 professionals. The Company’s existing portfolio of real estate assets, valued at over $20 billion, is made up of best-in-class mixed-use, residential, retail, office and affordable properties in premier high-barrier-to-entry markets. Related has developed preeminent mixed-use projects such as Time Warner Center in New York and CityPlace in West Palm Beach and is currently developing the 28-acre Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s West Side. Related Fund Management is staffed by seasoned professionals and has raised over $4 billion of capital for the platform across three areas: opportunistic real estate investments, origination and acquisition of debt, and multi-family housing opportunities. For more information about Related Fund Management, please visit www.related.com.

About GreenOak:
GreenOak is an independent, partner-owned, real estate focused principal investing, lending and advisory firm that seeks to create long term value for its investors and provide strategic advice to its clients. Formed in 2010, GreenOak is a highly focused global platform with an experienced and cohesive senior team. GreenOak possesses a long and successful track record investing in and managing real estate and advising clients on strategic mandates. GreenOak has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Seoul, Madrid and Tokyo with dedicated teams that possess local knowledge, experience and extensive networks in each market. GreenOak currently has approximately $6.6 billion of assets under management globally and has raised $4.4 billion of equity to invest in targeted strategies and assets as of March 2016.