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Pershing Square Foundation buys 125 West End Avenue for brain research
The $188 million purchase is part of a broader plan to secure about 700,000 square feet of research and office space between West 65th and West 66th streets.
Pershing Square Foundation, the philanthropic arm of hedge funder Bill Ackman, has acquired 125 West End Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to Commercial Observer. The foundation paid $188 million, with the project valued at $260 million as it begins a planned brain research institute at the site.
The acquisition centers on a proposed 400,000-square-foot life sciences building that will eventually house Ackman’s brain research center, the Ackman Oxman Institute. Commercial Observer reported that Pershing Square Foundation has teamed up with Mount Sinai Hospital System to develop the institute, though the timeline was unclear.
Commercial Observer also said the 125 West End Avenue purchase follows a deal involving the neighboring property at 320 West 66th Street, which was reported to be under contract for roughly $70 million. Together, the acquisitions are expected to provide about 700,000 square feet of research and office space between West 65th and West 66th streets.
The outlet added that 125 West End Avenue, also known as West End Labs, appears largely vacant, and that the building sits within the 3.4-acre West End Campus sold to Taconic by Silverstein Properties for $230 million in 2019. Commercial Observer reported that Taconic repositioned the campus as a research and laboratory complex, and noted that no immediate comment was provided by Pershing Square Foundation or Taconic.