Time Warner Inc. Announces New York Real Estate Development Plans Venture of Related Companies, ADIA and GIC Purchases Time Warner's Office Space at Time Warner Center in Columbus CircleTime Warner Planning to Locate New Headquarters at Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group's Hudson Yards Development
New York, NY - Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) today announced that Time Warner has sold the 1.1 million square feet of office space it owns in Time Warner Center for $1.3 billion to a venture of Related Companies, an entity owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and GIC. The venture will lease office space back to Time Warner until early 2019. Additionally, Time Warner, Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group announced that Time Warner intends to relocate the Company's corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan, and has accordingly made an initial financial commitment.
Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said, The sale of our office space in Time Warner Center to Related Companies and its partners is an important step toward moving our New York City-based employees into a dynamic new complex that will foster even more collaboration, creativity, and efficiency across our businesses. We began a process two years ago to evaluate our commercial real estate footprint within the New York Metropolitan area, where we currently own and lease space in seven buildings. By consolidating our space to Hudson Yards, New York's next great neighborhood, we will be able to reallocate substantial savings to our primary business of creating and sharing great storytelling in television, film, and journalism with audiences around the world.
Eastdil Secured represented Time Warner on the sale of its office space at Time Warner Center. Studley is representing Time Warner and CBRE is representing Related and Oxford with respect to Time Warner's planned acquisition of space in Hudson Yards for its new corporate headquarters.
Time Warner Center
Related Companies led the development of Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle and when the 2.8 million square foot Time Warner Center opened in 2004, it became the first vertical, mixed-use facility of its kind in New York City. The Shops at Columbus Circle and The Restaurant and Bar Collection consist of shopping, dining and entertainment programming totaling 350,000 square feet of leasable space. Together with Jazz at Lincoln Center's three performance halls, this world-class destination provides New York's West Side with 500,000 square feet of dynamic restaurant, retail and entertainment uses. The complex includes Time Warner Inc.'s headquarters, One Central Park condominiums, The Residences at the Mandarin Oriental, and the Mandarin Oriental five-star luxury hotel. Recognized as the catalyst to transform a long suffering Columbus Circle into a thriving epicenter of Manhattan, Time Warner Center stands as the nucleus of this historic neighborhood.
Related Companies Chairman Stephen M. Ross said, We are pleased to be partnering with ADIA and GIC in the acquisition of the office space Time Warner has occupied since 2004. Since opening, Time Warner Center has become one of the most celebrated and successful mixed-use developments--offering dynamic retail, hotel and cultural amenities and first-class office space. Time Warner has been a great steward for what will inevitably be some of the most sought after commercial office space in the City.
Regional Head of Americas at GIC Real Estate Tia Miyamoto said, Time Warner Center is one of the premier mixed-use projects in the country. We see significant upside in leasing the high quality office space following Time Warner Inc.'s planned relocation to 30 Hudson Yards. We believe strong demand for this first-rate office property will translate into a stable income stream which suits GIC as a long-term investor.
With Time Warner's planned move to Hudson Yards, Related will offer space in one of the top office buildings in New York City to outside tenants for the first time. The state-of-the-art space features two dedicated office lobbies, ceiling heights ranging from over 13 feet to 27 feet, flexible and efficient floor plans, unique terraces and panoramic views of Central Park.
30 Hudson Yards
Time Warner expects to acquire more than one million square feet of the available commercial space in 30 Hudson Yards located at the southwest corner of 10th Avenue and 33rd Street in Hudson Yards. Approximately 5,000 employees from Time Warner's corporate operations and its HBO, Turner Broadcasting, and Warner Bros. businesses will occupy the new office space in 30 Hudson Yards at the end of 2018. The parties have signed an initial agreement for the development of 30 Hudson Yards, and all parties expect to complete final building development documents by the first half of 2014.
Ross added, Time Warner has always been a visionary media company and Time Warner, led by Jeff Bewkes, is again showcasing its innovative and pioneering spirit in anchoring 30 Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards will be home to some of the most iconic brands in business and we are thrilled at the prospect of once again working with Time Warner to not only build a best-in-class headquarters site but also a community.
Oxford Chief Executive Officer Blake Hutcheson said, Time Warner has shown incredible vision not only in its core business of storytelling, but also in its commitment to establishing a collaborative and creative space, said Hutcheson. We are very excited to partner with Time Warner alongside Related, and to deliver a business community in which Time Warner will simply thrive.
The LEED Gold 80-story 30 Hudson Yards, designed by acclaimed global architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), will stand 1,
