Foreign, Domestic Players Vie for Trophy Assets

[IMGCAP(1)]NEW YORK CITY-Big Apple trophy buildings are being negotiated left and right after a slow start earlier this year. Following the recent sale of the GM Building and three other towers for $3.95 billion , a majority of the Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Ave. is reportedly on the block for $800 million, and the Credit Lyonnais Building, or 1301 Avenue of the Americas, is expected to trade for $1.45 billion, although sources say that number is a “ballpark figure.”

GlobeSt.com has also received confirmation that two other Midtown towers, including Park Avenue Tower and 850 Third Ave., are changing hands. Although oil-rich sovereign-wealth funds are becoming a major player in New York City’s real estate market due partly to an exchange rate that is in their favor, domestic players have not left the game.

[IMGCAP(2)]An unidentified source confirms to GlobeSt.com that San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties has purchased two Macklowe Properties assets, including the 610,000-sf Park Avenue Tower at 65 E. 55th St. and the 562,567-sf 850 Third Ave., for just shy of $1 billion. The source says that Shorenstein paid $930 million for a 93.5% interest in the partnership that controls both buildings.