The John Hancock Tower was sold recently for $660.6 million at a foreclosure auction in New York City. The signature Back Bay building was acquired by a partnership between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners, which have been buying some of the debt on the building since June. The partnership was the only entity to bid for the Hancock during the auction, which lasted less than 10 minutes. The firms initiated foreclosure after the Hancock's previous owner, Broadway Partners of New York, defaulted on some of the loans it used to buy the property for $1.3 billion in late 2006.
Allen & Overy LLP's New York office represented an investment partnership between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners in acquiring participation interests in a mezzanine loan secured by the equity interests in a portfolio of properties owned by Broadway Real Estate Partners with a view towards gaining ownership of the real estate securing the loan. The partnership was designated as the winning bidder of the UCC auction recently for the ownership interests in two class A properties: The John Hancock Tower, one of the most prominent trophy buildings in the city and 10 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California. Normandy purchased 10 Universal City Plaza for $304.8 million.
The Allen & Overy team working on the transaction included: managing partner Kevin O'Shea; associates Erwin Dweck, Lucia O'Connell, Elizabeth Waterman, and Adam Herman (real estate); senior counsel John Kibler, and associates Lisa Kraidin and Matthew Bruckner (bankruptcy); partner Jay Pultman (litigation); and partner Jack Heinberg (tax).
Normandy, a leading real estate private firm in the Northeast, will take over management responsibilities of the Hancock. The firm, based in Morristown, N.J., has more than four million s/f of space under management in Boston.