Built in 1912 and renovated extensively in 2003, the property itself is “pretty special,” the source says. “It was built as a Bonwit Teller department store, so you have unusual ceiling heights. They should do very well with the leasing campaign in ’11.”

Although some have wondered in print why Slim would make his Manhattan real estate debut—aside from a $250-million loan on the New York Times Co. headquarters at 620 Eighth Ave.—with a property such as 417 Fifth, the source notes that the deal is very much in keeping with foreign buyers’ behavioral patterns. “They’re generally interested in deals that are cheaper on a per-pound basis and stabilized,” says the source, adding that 417 Fifth attracted a great deal of overseas interest.

Foreign buyers have been involved in about 15% of the $4.2 billion worth of Manhattan commercial properties that have been sold or put under contract year to date, according to figures from Cushman & Wakefield. That’s not an unusually high percentage, although it’s at the high end of the normal rate of 10% to 15%. Last year, overseas investors accounted for 10% of the $3.5 billion in Manhattan transactions that closed. The difference this year is that sales volume is already running well ahead of 2010's 12-month total, albeit substantially below the tallies that were seen in 2006 and 2007.

A C&W team including former EVPs Richard Baxter, Jon Caplan, Ron Cohen and Scott Latham, along with current EVP Helen Hwang and executive director Karen Wiedenmann, represented the seller, a joint venture operating as W2007 417 Fifth Avenue Realty, LLC. The JV of the Moinian Group and Goldman Sachs had paid a total of $250 million for the property in 2007, including the assumption of a $125-million mortgage that matures this September. Inmobiliaria Carso was represented by Soly Halabi of Venture Capital Properties.