2003: Bricks & Mortar, Intrigue & Upheaval

In 2003, the typical sale and lease activity took a backseat to the intrigue playing out in the C-suites of some of the industry’s most notable real estate services firms. And that’s saying something considering the transactional news of the year.

One of those was the $1.4-billion sale of Manhattan’s GM Building to Macklowe Properties, the deal that would become the poster-child for high-ticket office sales in months to come. It overshadowed, but not by much, the news that the New York Times was relocating to new digs on Eighth Ave. This was also the year when Trizec reversed its decision on Sears Tower in Chicago (see our 2002 coverage), shedding its second mortgage for $9 million to MetLife, which would flip the asset in a few months.

With New York City already on record with its interest in the 2012 Olympics (see our 2001 coverage), London followed suit in the early days of 2003, as GlobeSt.com reported. Ahead of the curve with its Olympics hopes, the Big Apple played catch-up in its Downtown growth trajectory as major firms began to look again at the benefits of Lower Manhattan tenancies. Nasdaq, for one, opted to stay, reupping for 80,000 sf at One Liberty Plaza. Amex also expressed its confidence in Downtown, taking 70,000 sf at Three World Financial.