Alchemy Properties, the New York-based real estate firm that last week announced its purchase of the condominium interest in the Woolworth Building, disclosed today that two private investors are also part of the deal.
Marc Schimmel and Adam Neumann, chief executive officer of WeWork, assumed minority interests in the ownership structure of the transaction. Schimmel has taken an investment stake, while Neumann will also act as a branding and marketing consultant for the planned redevelopment of one of the City’s greatest landmarks.
Alchemy said last week it paid $68 million to buy the condo from The Witkoff Group and Cammeby’s International, which will continue to own the lower 28 floors to house office tenants.
The developer revealed plans to convert the vacant top floors into luxury condos with a separate lobby for residents to be constructed on Park Place, and private elevators serving the residential condominiums. Units are expected to be completed by 2015.
Alchemy said today (Wednesday) that both Schimmel and Neumann played central roles throughout the purchase and negotiation of the transaction. Together, they had acquired the rights to purchase the top portion of the property, and then worked with Alchemy and its institutional partner to transfer a majority of their position. Alchemy, a long-time New York City residential developer, then announced the plan to convert the top 30 floors of the fabled building.
Schimmel is an active member of the Schimmel family’s real estate businesses, one of the largest private real estate groups in the United Kingdom with major additional interests in Israel. He is also responsible for the family’s interests in financial services, technology and communications globally. Previous New York real estate investment activity included an interest in the purchase of the HSBC building in 2009.
Neumann is best known as CEO and Co-Founder of WeWork, a company based in Manhattan that is reinventing the workplace by creating communities of offices and shared spaces fostering sustainable collaboration. Neumann has directed the company’s acquisition of approximately 500,000 square feet in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. WeWork is currently valued at $200 million.
Constructed in 1913, the 58-story Woolworth Building is one of the oldest and most recognizable buildings in the world. It was the world’s tallest skyscraper until 1930. With its ornate neo-Gothic spire rising above City Hall on lower Broadway, the Woolworth Building was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
The floors being acquired all feature panoramic views of Manhattan and the surrounding region. The penthouse units will be more than 700 feet aboveground, making them some of the highest luxury residential quarters in the city.
