Qatar Investment Authority backs $8.6bn New York development

Qatar Investment Authority has entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners for the $8.6bn Manhattan West development in New York, US.

The announcement followed the opening of the Qatari fund’s New York office in September where it declared it would invest $35bn in the US over the next five years.

Under the deal, Brookfield sold a 44 per cent stake in the mixed-use project to QIA.

“This joint venture is an example of our strategy to invest in high-quality real estate with strong partners. It is also a further demonstration of QIA’s long-term confidence in the US market,” said QIA CEO Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani.

Manhattan West is a five-building project stretching across seven-million-square-foot on the west side of Manhattan.

It will include One Manhattan West, a 67-story, two-million-square-foot office building anchored by tenant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. It is scheduled for completion in 2019.

Two Manhattan West, another two-million-square-foot office tower, will be constructed upon the full leasing of the first building.

Other buildings include Three Manhattan West, a 62-storey luxury residential tower currently under construction. It will feature 844 apartment units, with final completion set for 2018. Following this, Four Manhattan West is initially planned to include a hotel or further residential units.

Meanwhile, Five Manhattan West – a 1.8-million-square-foot office building formerly known as 450 West 33rd Street – is undergoing a $350m redevelopment programme. It will be fully modernised and integrated with the Manhattan West project.

Brookfield said it has signed 40,000 square feet of leases in the last 12 months bringing total occupancy in the building to 90 per cent.

The Manhattan West development will be linked to a new two-acre park named Central Plaza/Retail. It will include a new pedestrian route with approximately 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and amenity space.

QIA has around $334bn in assets according to Sovereign Wealth Center. It recently committed $20bn for Asia and $10bn for a joint venture with China’s CITIC Group Corp to diversify its portfolio.

The firm’s other assets include London’s Canary Wharf financial district and stakes in Total and Credit Suisse.