The Randal Nardone led Fortress Investment Group has been working to increase its presence at the Times Square. This is after the company partnered with other entities to acquire the historic Palace Theater which sits right across the street from Marriot EDITION hotel which is under construction at 20 Times Square. 20 Times Square had been sold for renovations before Fortress Investment Group partnered with Maefield Development and bought it.
The deal to transfer the property which was valued at 1.53 billion dollars was finalized after Fortress Investment Group and Maefield Development brought out their respective partners. Before it was sold, the partners only owned an interest share in the property as described by a Winthrop representative. This gave Fortress Investment Group and Maefield Development full ownership of the property.
In 2012, Steve Witkoff led a transaction for which the property was sold to investors at 430 million dollars. During the time of the transaction, 20 Times Square was more of an office building. Despite promises by the investors to upgrade the property, it was not possible until 2015 when the groundbreaking took place. Construction plans were however dragged due to different challenges. The proposed new upgrade of 20 Times Square stands up to 39 stories tall with more than 450 rooms. At the time when the deal was being closed, Mayfield was looking for extra funds that would be pumped into construction. The estimated cost for upgrading the property was about 1.3 billion, this included the elevation of the theater, expansion f the hotel as well as the installation of a large outdoor screen and more
For Fortress Investment Group led by Randal Nardone, this was not the first time the company takes part in a recapitalization of a business. Fortress whose CEO is Randal Nardone is majorly deals in the management of capital for companies in both the private and public sectors. Currently, the Fortress group manages a portfolio of more than 70 billion dollars and has been recorded as the first ever private company to be publicly traded in America. The company has earned respect and won many awards including the Fund Manager of the Year award received in 2014 and Management Firm of the Year.