2012年12月31日 星期一

The Future of the Sony Tower

Sony Building (New York) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Sony Tower, formerly the AT&T Building, is a 647 feet (197 m) tall, 37-story ... It was designed by architect Philip Johnson and partner John Burgee, and was ...

紐約索尼大廈的昨天、今天和明天


耗兩億美元巨資建成的索尼總部大廈位於麥迪遜大街550號,有着七層樓高的拱門。它於1983年啟用,當時為AT&T大樓,是紐約城在經歷了十年的市政混亂和公司逃離潮之後開始復蘇的標誌。
現在,這棟37層的玫瑰色花崗岩大廈正在拍賣,拍賣價高達10億美元。上周,大約20個潛在買家提交了競標價格,他們希望將這棟大廈變成公寓樓、豪華賓館、時尚零售廣場甚或高端小型公司的辦公場所。但是,沒人想把它變成一個公司總部。
大廈的前途很能說明一座城市和一個街區的價值, Calvin Klein、阿瑪尼(Armani)、愛馬仕(Hermès)、迪奧(Dior)和古馳(Gucci)都在這裡開有零售店,其支付的租金在世界上首屈一 指。而在57街上,兩個工程的開發商正在爭着建造北美最高、最奢華的公寓樓,樓里的公寓要賣給王子和億萬富翁,每套的價格以千萬美元計。
位於55街和56街之間的索尼大廈有着木板裝飾的董事會會議室和清一色白色大理石鋪砌的樓梯,如今也許更適合對沖基金公司之類的租戶,因為它們可以坦然面對每平方英尺超過120美元(相當於每平方米8267元人民幣)的租賃價格。
“這棟大廈高度和位置都十分合適,肯定會賣得很好,”紐約大學的城市規劃師米切爾·莫斯(Mitchell Moss)說。“唯一的問題是,大樓作什麼用?這個街區的固有吸引力太大了,用來充當公司總部未免太貴。”
潛在買家及房地產高管稱,參與了第一輪競標的開發商包括沃那多房產公司(Vornado Realty Trust)、波士頓地產(Boston Properties)、三菱信託(Mitsubishi Trust)、三井不動產(Mitsui Fudosan)以及RXR房地產公司(RXR Realty)。 他們表示,其他競標者是史蒂文·C·韋德考夫(Steven C. Witkoff)、哈里·麥克洛(Harry B. Macklowe)和愛德華·明斯科夫(Edward J. Minskoff)。
幾乎所有的競標者都有合作夥伴——其中包括一些加拿大養老金公司、主權基金和外國投資者——他們都認為曼哈頓是世界上最安全的市場之一。
但是,這並不能保證索尼能夠拿到它期望的價格。高管們表示,超過半數的潛在買家都無法支付索尼期望的十億美元高價。索尼將會從競標者中選出一部分,邀請其參與下個月舉行的第二輪競標。
今年,另外兩處大型商業地產的所有者也沒能達到預期目的,因為買家的出價遠遠低於他們各自開出的15億美元價格。其中一處是第八大道上47層的環球廣場(Worldwide Plaza),另一處是30層的麥迪遜大道11號(11 Madison Avenue)。
但是,索尼大廈的賣價可能會接近其預期。“全球投資領域對這類資產的需求達到了我所見過的最高水平,” 諮詢公司真實資金分析(Real Capital Analytics)的丹·法蘇洛(Dan Fasulo)說。“一旦它被包裝一新,達到了2013年的標準,它就有實力競爭曼哈頓最高的租賃價格。”
索尼公司的一名代表沒有回應對於這次出售的置評請求。
1981年,這棟建築還在建設的時候,紐約城正在努力遏制經濟不振、工業崗位流失和長期衰退。AT&T的總部大樓,一個街區外的建設中的IBM大樓,以及第五大道拐角的川普大樓,都是經濟復興的象徵。
然而,AT&T當時正在剝離所有的地區性電話運營公司,很快就把這棟大廈中將近一半的空間租給了索尼。2002年,索尼最終以2.36億美元的價格買下了這棟建築。
索尼曾經是電子消費品行業中的主導力量,現在卻已今不如昔。今年4月,索尼稱將削減1萬個工作崗位。不久之後,它就把這棟大廈送上了賣場。
索尼的房地產經紀人、Eastdil Secured公司的道格拉斯·哈蒙(Douglas Harmon)為潛在買家提供了一本216頁的機密投標參考,名為“麥迪遜大街550號地標”(The Icon at 550 Madison Avenue)。在搬入新的辦公地點之前,索尼計劃在這棟建築里繼續運營3年。
“未來的可用空間將使這棟建築成為一張空白的畫布,可望使其廣泛的用途發展到極限,提供為數眾多的辦公室、零售商、服務業和住宅選項,”投標參考中寫道。
不過,因為華爾街對季度業績的重視,許多大公司不再尋找昂貴的辦公地點。有鑒於此,這棟建築多半無法引來大型的企業買主。
2011年,時代華納公司(Time Warner)的首席執行官傑弗里·L·比克斯(Jeffrey L. Bewkes)把他的公司位於時代華納中心的奢華總部稱之為“鋪張”。他拿出了一些計劃,旨在節約經費,並在多些效率、少些奢華的地方整合公司的運營。
許多買家稱,已有30年歷史的索尼大樓必須接受全面的內部整修,由此可能產生數千萬美元的費用。他們正在考慮賦予它多種用途,包括酒店和高檔商店。
韋德考夫確認自己曾參與競標,計劃是把這座大廈的頂部改建成公寓。“如果把它用作辦公室,這次交易就毫無意義,”他說。“在我看來,唯一有意義的做法是把頂層變為住宅。你可以通過這些公寓中掙到最高的收入。”
其他幾名出價人也想出了一個由零售商店和住宅構成的類似混合體。高管稱,另一名競標者麥克洛想把建築的底層建成奢侈品零售商場,並為小型企業提供奢華的辦公場所。麥克洛曾在麥迪遜大街510號建成了一座類似的建築,但卻在近期的經濟衰退中把這處產業賠給了他的債權人。
翻譯:谷菁璐、林蒙克

Future of Corporate Tower May Hinge on a New Use


The Sony Building, a lavish $200 million headquarters with a seven-story arch at 550 Madison Avenue, was a symbol of a resurgent New York when it opened in 1983 as the AT&T Building after a decade of municipal woes and corporate flight.
Now the 37-story rose-granite tower is on the auction block for as much as $1 billion. About 20 prospective buyers submitted bids last week, hoping to turn the building into condominiums, a luxury hotel, a chic retail arcade or maybe even office space for small, high-end firms. But not a corporate headquarters.
The potential evolution says a lot about a city and a neighborhood where Calvin Klein, Armani, Hermès, Dior and Gucci are paying some of the world’s highest retail rents. On 57th Street, developers of two projects are vying to build North America’s tallest, most gilded residential tower, with condos selling to princes and billionaires for tens of millions of dollars each.
The Sony Building between 55th and 56th Streets, with its wood-paneled board rooms and sweeping white marble staircase, may be more suited today for tenants like hedge funds, which do not flinch at rents above $120 a square foot.
“This building has the right height and the right location to be a success,” said Mitchell Moss, an urban planner at New York University. “The only question is, what goes inside the building? The underlying appeal of that neighborhood has gotten so strong that it’s too expensive for a corporate headquarters.”
Developers turning in their first-round bids included Vornado Realty Trust, Boston Properties, Mitsubishi Trust, Mitsui Fudosan and RXR Realty, according to prospective buyers and to real estate executives. Others bidding were Steven C. Witkoff, Harry B. Macklowe and Edward J. Minskoff, they said.
Nearly all of them have partners — including Canadian pension firms, sovereign funds and foreign investors — who view Manhattan as one of the safest markets in the world.
But there is no guarantee that Sony will get the price it wants. More than half the prospective buyers fell short of Sony’s billion-dollar expectation, executives said. A select group of bidders will be invited to submit second bids next month.
Prospective sales this year by two other owners of large commercial properties — the 47-story Worldwide Plaza on Eighth Avenue and the 30-story tower at 11 Madison Avenue — fell flat when offers came in far below the $1.5 billion each had sought.
But the Sony Building may come close. “The demand from the global investment community for assets like this is at the highest level I’ve ever seen,” said Dan Fasulo of Real Capital Analytics, a research firm. “Once it’s shined up and brought up to 2013 standards, it’ll compete for some of the highest rents in Manhattan.”
A Sony representative did not respond to requests for comment on the sale.
When the building was under construction in 1981, New York City was struggling to stave off an economic malaise, the loss of industrial jobs, and long-term decay. AT&T’s headquarters, like the IBM Building under construction a block away and Trump Tower around the corner on Fifth Avenue, offered signs of a renaissance.
But AT&T, which was in the midst of divesting itself of all the regional telephone operating companies, soon leased nearly half of the tower to Sony. The Japanese company eventually bought the building in 2002 for $236 million.
Sony is not the dominant force in consumer electronics that it once was. Last April, the company said it would cut 10,000 jobs. Soon, it put the tower up for sale.
Sony’s real estate broker, Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured, gave prospective buyers a 216-page confidential offering memorandum, “The Icon at 550 Madison Avenue.” Sony plans to remain in the building for three years, before moving to a new location.
“The future vacancy provides a blank canvas to maximize the property’s wide spectrum of use and pursue a myriad of office, retail, hospitality, and residential options,” the offering book said.
Still, with Wall Street’s emphasis on quarterly results, many big companies are no longer looking for expensive homes, so the building probably will not attract a major corporate buyer.
In 2011, Jeffrey L. Bewkes, chief executive of Time Warner, described his company’s plush headquarters at the Time Warner Center as “indulgent.” He laid out plans to save money and consolidate company operations in more efficient, less luxurious space.
Many buyers said the Sony Building, now 30, will have to be gutted, which would cost tens of millions of dollars. They are considering a mix of uses, including hotels and high-end shops.
Mr. Witkoff confirmed that he had submitted a bid, with plans to convert the top of the tower to condominiums. “There’s no way that you can make sense out of this deal if it’s office space,” he said. “In my opinion, the only way it works is if the top goes residential. You’ll get the highest numbers from condominiums.”
Several other bidders envision a similar mix of retail and residential. Executives said another bidder, Mr. Macklowe, favored a luxury retail arcade at the base of the building, with luxury office space for smaller firms. Mr. Macklowe built a similar building at 510 Madison but lost it to his lenders during the recent recession.

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