RCA in the commercial property press:

Deutsche Bank Said to Sell Ex-Macklowe Tower to RCG, Comfort

Bloomberg reports: Deutsche Bank AG agreed to sell Worldwide Plaza, a New York skyscraper it seized from investor Harry Macklowe, to a partnership including RCG Longview and George Comfort & Sons, two people familiar with the matter said.

A contract was signed yesterday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The terms weren’t disclosed. The 47-story building, at Eighth Avenue and West 49th Street, has 1.6 million square feet.

Macklowe paid $1.74 billion for the property in February 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc. data. It was among seven buildings Macklowe bought for $7 billion from Equity Office Property Trust, primarily using debt. New York City office building prices have dropped 30 percent to 50 percent since the peak in 2007, said Woody Heller, head of the capital transactions group at Studley, a New York-based brokerage.

“If it’s financed and goes through that could be real good news for the New York commercial market,” said Jessica Ruderman, a Real Capital senior market analyst. The transaction may be the biggest office sale of 2009, she said.