When a consortium led by New York real estate developer Scott Rechler’s RXR Realty and Chinese state-owned China Life Insurance Group Co. agreed to buy a New York office tower located at 1285 Sixth Avenue from J.P. Morgan Asset Management and AXA Financial Inc. for $1.65 billion, not only did a bevy of Big Law partners pick up work on the deal, some even walked away with stakes in the building.
The Wall Street Journal reported in late May that Rechler had to wheel and deal in more ways than one with key tenant Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in order to get what he viewed as a favorable transaction. Rechler wanted to secure a long-term lease extension from fellow tenant UBS Group AG, and that was only achieved after getting Paul Weiss to modify an expansion option it held and selling stakes in the in building to several firm partners, according to The WSJ, which cited individuals familiar with the matter.
