General Motors Building/767 Fifth Avenue
Property Sq Ft: 1,920,000
Purchase Date: August, 2003
Purchase Price: $1.4B
Year Built: 1968
Client: Private Foreign Equity/Boston Properties
Mermel & McLain arranged an investment group to purchase the General Motors Building when it was offered by Conseco as a result of bankruptcy. In the final round of the bidding, Tenantwise offered $1.4B along with Solow Properties, Leslie Dick Worldwide and Macklowe Properties. Macklowe was awarded the building as its bid included a $50MM cash deposit. Both Solow and Dick sued alleging the auction was improper and that Macklowe had received a “last look.” This lawsuit was finally dismissed in April 2010.
The private equity group arranged by Mermel & McLain represented over $400MM in equity capital; it was composed of a private foreign equity concern and Boston Properties. Mort Zuckerman, the Chairman of Boston Properties remarked that the analysis was the “best he had ever seen” and the acquisition department of Boston Properties revamped its acquisition analysis packages to mimic the efforts of our Firm. Tenantwise was compensated for its efforts despite the fact the property was not acquired by its investor group.