NEW YORK, NY – Andrew Stewart of Cronheim Mortgage has arranged term financing of $200,000,000 for 300 Park Avenue, the world headquarters for Colgate Palmolive Corporation. Cronheim Mortgage acted as mortgage correspondent and servicing agent in the transaction. The borrowing entity is controlled by Tishman Speyer Travelers Real Estate Venture III, LLC. In 1999, Cronheim had also arranged $168,000,000 in financing for the acquisition and repositioning of the subject property. Jonathan Estreich of Estreich and Company acted as mortgage broker in the initial transaction.

300 Park Avenue is a 25-story office building in which the first 15 floors serve as the world headquarters for Colgate Palmolive Corp. The remaining nine floors are occupied by 15 tenants including banks, major law firms, financial services/brokerage companies, an executive search firm, an office solution provider, and a deli/café.

The subject property occupies the entire block front of Park Avenue between 49^th and 50^th Streets, providing 200 feet of frontage on Park Avenue. In the immediate surroundings of 300 Park Avenue are the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel which is across the street, St. Bartholomew's Church which is northeast of the subject, St. Patrick's Cathedral which is one block east; and the 48^th Street entrance to Grand Central which is one block south. Corporate neighbors include Chase Manhattan Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston and Mutual of America, among others.

Built in 1955, 300 Park Avenue was designed by Emory Roth and Sons for the Uris Brothers, and owned by Uris until its purchase by Tishman Speyer in 1999. Tishman Speyer took ownership of the subject with the stated goal of returning the building to its former prominence as a high quality Class A office building.

Through an aggressive approach and tenant-oriented management style, Tishman Speyer performed extensive renovations to the building’s exterior façade and provided for significant tenant fit-up. The new façade of 300 Park Avenue consists of retrofitted composite aluminum panels, new windows, renovated storefronts and a granite base at the first floor level. The new windows are made of Solex, a transparent green glass which has the unusual feature of changing its look according to the time of day and the direction of light. The west façade of the building is constructed of a white brick masonry curtain wall with a continuous band of windows at each floor level. Due to the recent renovations, the property has truly regained its stature as one of New York’s premier business addresses. In addition to the renovations, Tishman Speyer has also successfully leased and repositioned approximately 200,000 square feet of office space as well as 15,000 square feet of retail space to users including Bank Hapoalim and CSFB Direct.