Macklowe Looms Large In Sales
Crain's New York Business reports: The list of 2009's top 25 property sales paints a stark picture of the state of the market. Not one deal topped the $1 billion mark, while in 2008, also a lackluster year, there were two. The largest deal last year weighed in at a lowly $590 million, compared with the $2.8 billion paid for the General Motors Building in the biggest deal of 2008.
While the GM Building sale was truly unusual, other comparisons are similarly dispiriting. Consider, for example, that the 25th-largest deal in 2008—a $152 million transaction—would have ranked as the fourth-largest in 2009, according to Real Capital Analytics. Conversely, last year's largest deal would have ranked as No. 6 in 2008.
Ironically, the top deals of both years were byproducts of the implosion of Harry Macklowe's holdings. In 2008, he returned to lenders seven buildings that he had purchased for $7 billion the previous year, and sold off four other buildings, including the GM Building. This year's top deal was the purchase by a partnership of George Comfort & Sons and DRA Advisors of WorldWide Plaza at 825 Eighth Ave., one of the buildings Mr. Macklowe had handed back.
View the full article on Crain's New York Business: Macklowe Looms Large In Sales
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Posted by: Mark Alferman