Carmaker Hyundai buys Tribeca building for NYC offices, showroom

AUTOMAKER Hyundai Motor Group bought a Manhattan building to house offices and a showroom, joining a group of companies expanding their base in the city and owning their own real estate.

Hyundai, based in Seoul, is paying about US$275 million in cash for 15 Laight St in the Tribeca neighbourhood, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the transaction is private. The eight-story boutique office building near the Holland Tunnel was newly redeveloped and includes outdoor terraces on each floor.

The seller was Vanbarton Group, developer of the roughly 108,000-square-foot building. The firm declined to comment. A representative for Hyundai didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal was brokered by Newmark Group, which declined to comment.

Office transactions in Manhattan have slowed dramatically as remote work and cost-cutting measures reduce demand for space. Nearly a fifth of the city’s office supply is available for rent, according to a fourth-quarter report by Newmark. Major lenders are looking to reduce their exposure to office loans, making it harder for potential buyers to get financing for building purchases.

Still, some deals are getting done for high-quality offices. Companies are gravitating towards newly built spaces, and some tenants are buying their offices outright with many seeking new developments, or heavily-renovated structures.

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Last year, Citadel’s Ken Griffin confirmed plans to build a 1.7 million-square-foot skyscraper on Park Avenue to serve as the headquarters for his businesses in New York. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center struck a deal to buy space for offices at 885 Third Ave, known as the Lipstick Building. In early 2022, Google purchased St John’s Terminal, which it was already leasing, for US$2.1 billion.

Hyundai Motor Group, which owns both the Hyundai and Kia car brands, pledged in 2021 to invest billions in the US by 2025, a commitment that covers electric-vehicle plants, hydrogen refuelling stations and unmanned flying taxis. BLOOMBERG