BLOOMBERG 10 29 15 - Jeff Blau - KKR to Buy Offices at Hudson Yards, Relocate From Plaza District
Channel: Hudson Yards
Date: 2017-01-24

KKR & Co., the buyout firm that rose to prominence in the 1980s when it paid more than $31 billion for RJR Nabisco, agreed to buy about 343,000 square feet of office space at 30 Hudson Yards, setting the stage for its relocation from Manhattan’s Plaza District to a development zone once dominated by bus garages and a train depot.

The company is taking the top 10 office floors of a 90-story tower that will be the tallest building in Related Cos.’ $20 billion development west of Midtown, the companies said in a joint statement. The price wasn’t disclosed. KKR will join Time Warner Inc. in the 2.6 million-square-foot (242,000-square-meter) tower, giving Related an 85 percent occupancy rate at both of the first two skyscrapers it’s building at the yards.

The move signals a culture shift as KKR plans its departure from 9 W. 57th St., which is among Manhattan’s most exclusive office towers. KKR’s presence, along with that of Apollo Global Management LLC, Silver Lake Management and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, helped cement 9 W. 57th’s reputation as the home of some of New York’s top financial firms.