Photo courtesy of Tom Newton
Bill Ackman is an avid tennis player.
This month, Ackman and commercial real-estate firm The Georgetown Company purchased an old Ford dealership building on Manhattan's far West Side for more than $250 million, Commercial Observer reported.
The historic 464,000-square-foot car dealership building will be Pershing Square Capital's new home.
The building is located at 787 11th Avenue on between 54th and 55th streets, which is a pretty big hike from the rest of the hedge funds in Midtown Manhattan. It's located near a park and it offers fantastic views of the Hudson River.
Pershing Square employs around 70 people. They currently occupy about 31,000 square feet at 888 Seventh Avenue. Other tenants will likely occupy the building too.
The Georgetown Company, Pershing Square's partner in the transaction, is also the same real estate firm that developed the stunning IAC Building on Manhattan's West Side. We can only imagine what they will do with the property.
Multiple people have told us a tennis court is in the works. Sounds awesome.
Horace Greeley High School 1986 yearbook Ackman played tennis in high school.
Ackman returned to the tennis world after investment banker Jeff Appel, a former top ranked player for his age group, sent the investor an unsolicited email in 2005 inviting him to play with his Wall Street tennis crew. He showed up.
Since then, Ackman has become extremely passionate about his tennis. He's consistently improved.
"It's amazing how Bill keeps improving. He plays as if he played Division I tennis," Appel, who is called the "Mayor of New York tennis," told Business Insider.
These days, Ackman frequently plays in charity tournaments, and donates significant amounts of money to various causes supported by the Wall Street tennis community. He also sponsors 17-year-old tennis phenom Francis Tiafoe.
Here's a map of where the new office will be located:
Here's a Google Street View version:
