Manulife Buys Manhattan Tower as Condos Elbow Out Offices
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Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest life insurer by market value, bought its first office building in New York’s financial district to capitalize on demand as residential conversions squeeze supply of commercial space.
The benefits provider bought a 21-story building from Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan’s largest property developer, for $166.5 million on Dec. 10, said Warren Thomson, chief investment officer of Manulife. The tower, located at 100 William St., is around the corner from the Federal Reserve and was designed by architect Emery Roth & Sons which was involved with the design of the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.