Business Specialties Investments
$2B Deal for Pair of NYC Offices Reportedly Falls Through
Nov 18, 2008
By: Adam Perrotta, News Writer

Two New York City office properties are back on the market, as a deal under which George Comfort & Sons would have acquired the assets--1540 Broadway and Worldwide Plaza--for some $2 billion has fallen through.

The sale agreement was originally reached in mid-September, and at the time, was partially contingent on NBC leasing a large portion of Worldwide Plaza, which is located at 825 Eight Avenue. That lease never happened, and the deal has been nixed, according to Crain’s New York.

With the original deal now dead, the buildings have begun to be remarketed. Crain’s cited experts who pegged the likely sale price of the assets at $1.2 billion given the current economic turmoil and credit freeze. It is unclear if George Comfort & Sons will re-bid on the buildings at a lower price.

The aborted sale is the latest chapter in the saga of the former Equity Office Properties portfolio, a group of seven Manhattan office properties acquired for $7 billion by Macklowe Properties in 2007. Macklowe ran into trouble paying back short term loans for the investment, and in February of 2008, a group of lenders headed by Deutsche Bank repossessed the properties. Since then, five of the seven assets have been sold at a significant loss compared to what Macklowe acquired them for.

 
Recent Investments Headlines
AIG 70 pine st smal AIG Headquarters Sale Makes Splash in Quiet Manhattan Investment Market
With rumors circulating of a sale price around $100 per square foot, the sale of the 66-story American International Group headquarters in Lower Manhattan likely set the bar for the biggest sale in the area market thus far in 2009.
While Hotel Investment Activity Languishes in the U.S., Market Remains Viable in Brazil
Plagued by the global recession that has slashed both business and pleasure travel, the hotel market is suffering on an international level and investors have backed away from buying or building in most locations, with a few exceptions--like Brazil. According to a new report by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the positive long-term growth forecast for Brazil is popping up on the radar of those who are in the position to invest.
Economic Update - Starwood Eyes Distressed Sector with $500M Fund
Yet another deep-pocketed real estate entity has jumped into the grave-dancing game—only please, don’t call it that, but rather strategic investment in distressed properties. The player is a newly formed investment company called Starwood Property Trust Inc., a creation of Starwood mogul Barry Sternlicht, which filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week for a public offering that aims to raise half a billion dollars to do the distressed-property boogie. It will invest in not only physical properties, but mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.
Signs of Life in 2Q as Sales Volume, Capitalization Jump
Despite overall sales figures down double digits from last year, transactions are still move forward, albeit in smaller amounts. Another good sign of real estate activity is the re-equitization of the REIT industry that continued in May as more companies deleveraged their balance sheets with equity capital raised in the public markets.
REIT Week Lack of Leverage Lends Strength, REIT Week Panel Maintains
The bad news is, the United States is in a Great Recession and the commercial real estate market is likely to feel continued pain during the next two years as corporate cutbacks result in weaker fundamentals. The good news is, the public equity markets have been improving in the past few months, with returns bouncing back substantially and multiples back down to more reasonable levels as the market has responded to REIT success at raising capital through secondary offerings.