CTNY Investors, LLC and Declaration Management & Research LLC Joint Venture Purchases Four Floors of Office Condominiums at 40 Broad Street

NEW YORK, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A joint venture between CTNY Investors, LLC, a real estate investment vehicle comprised primarily of Cassidy Turley shareholders and the commercial real estate investment arm of Declaration Management & Research LLC ("DMR"), announced today that it has purchased a commercial condominium within The Setai Wall Street at 40 Broad Street in the Financial District. The condominium is comprised of four commercial floors, four through seven, of Class A office condominium space encompassing approximately 70,000 square feet.  

40 Broad Street is a 33-story luxury trophy condominium tower consisting of 159 residential units on floors 8-33, offices on floors 4-7, The Setai Spa, the Michelin-starred restaurant SHO Shaun Hergatt, and ground floor retail. The building features separate entrances, lobby and elevators between its commercial and residential units.

"This purchase exemplifies our ongoing strategy of sourcing off-market deals for well-located, underutilized assets," said Anthony McElroy, Principal and Head of Acquisitions for CTNY Investors, LLC. "This unit was part of a distressed note sale and we plan to renovate and reposition the asset and re-sell as commercial office condominiums. This is the first acquisition for our current investment vehicle and follows two very successful vehicles from our predecessor company CABR Investors. DMR provided a sophisticated investment partner with timely execution skills. We look forward to working with them in the future on many transactions."

The building is located on the west side of Broad Street between Beaver Street and Exchange Place, and is near two other residential conversions of office buildings at 25 and 15 Broad Street.

DMR acquired this asset for DMR CRE Opportunity Fund I, a vehicle launched in the second half of 2010, to capitalize on the on-going market dislocation in commercial real estate.

"We are delighted to have closed this transaction with CTNY Investors as our partner, which through its relationship with Cassidy Turley brings the expertise and infrastructure of a full service real estate company along with the knowledge and capabilities of a seasoned investment group," said Jin K. Lee, Investment Manager for DMR.

Cassidy Turley has been appointed the management and sales agent for the re-sale of the office condominium units for the building.

"The commercial condominium product is perfect for medical and non-profit users, government, foreign buyers and small to mid-size companies," said David Lebenstein, Senior Managing Director, Principal at Cassidy Turley. "Space users can affordably own a piece of New York real estate and control their destiny as well as their occupancy costs."

About CTNY Investors, LLC

CTNY Investors, LLC (CTNY) is an investment fund comprised of the major shareholders of the New York City office of Cassidy Turley.  The objective of CTNY is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by acquiring, developing, redeveloping and managing commercial, retail and residential properties which provide value-added opportunities in the New York City Metropolitan area.   CTNY and its investment partners will utilize the real estate services of Cassidy Turley to provide property management, brokerage, investment sales and construction management services where applicable.  Cassidy Turley is a leading commercial real estate services provider with over 2,800 professionals in 60 offices nationwide. The firm completed transactions valued over $13 billion in 2010, manages over 430 million square feet on behalf of private, institutional and corporate clients and supports over 25,000 domestic corporate services locations.

About Declaration Management & Research LLC

Declaration Management & Research LLC ("DMR") is an SEC registered investment adviser managing approximately $11 billion in institutional assets under management. DMR was formed in 1989 and has offices in McLean, Virginia and New York City. The firm is a Manulife Asset Management company, indirectly wholly owned by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation. In addition to fixed income capabilities, DMR has established a platform to invest in opportunistic commercial real estate in all property types throughout the U.S.

SOURCE CTNY Investors, LLC