Rockefeller Center, 12-Building, 6.75MSF Portfolio, $1.85B

Rockefeller Center, one of the most venerable of New York City landmarks, has a new owner in a team formed by Tishman Speyer and the Chicago-based Crown Family. The partnership of Speyer and Crown previously held 5% of the facility, sharing ownership with Goldman Sachs, David Rockefeller, the Agnelli family and a Greek entrepreneur. The reported price for the complex was $1.85 billion, and the Speyer/Crown team gained all of their previous partners' interests. The agreed-upon price is well below the $2.5 billion sought by current ownership. READ MORE HERE

2001: Morgan Stanley Bails, Lehman Brothers Buys

745 Seventh Ave., $748M ($733 per sf)

The city's real estate and financial communities were abuzz with reports that Morgan Stanley was negotiating the sale of its new building at Broadway and 49th Street to securities rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The two firms made it official in October, announcing that Lehman will purchase the one-million-sf tower. Located a stone's throw from Morgan Stanley's 1.4-million-sf Times Square headquarters at 1585 Broadway, the new building, 745 Seventh Ave., has been under construction since 1999 and is scheduled for occupancy later this year. READ MORE HERE

2002: Boston Properties Buys 399 Park for $1B

399 Park Ave., $1.06B ($631 per sf)

Boston Properties signed a $1.06-billion deal to acquire 399 Park Ave. from Citigroup in the fall. The 1.68 million-sf building occupies the entire block from Park Avenue to Lexington Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets in Midtown Manhattan.

The property serves as the corporate headquarters of Citigroup, which occupies approximately 40% of the space. Boston Properties reportedly won a four-way bidding war that included Equity Office Properties, Brookfield Properties, and Vornado Realty. Salomon Smith Barney represented Citigroup. READ MORE HERE

2003: GM Sale Closes

General Motors Building, 767 Fifth Ave., $1.4B ($727 per sf), 4.9% quoted cap rate

A lawsuit filed by another bidder didn't stop the closing of the $1.4 billion sale of the GM Building to Macklowe Properties, acting in partnership with Vornado Realty Trust and Soros Fund Management. A Delaware court in August dismissed the claims of a failed bidder who was attempting to stop the sale. In mid-June, previous owners Donald Trump and Conseco reached an agreement on a long-standing dispute over control and distribution of profits of the Fifth Avenue property. They agreed to sell the building.

READ MORE HERE AND HERE

2004: MetLife Sells Sears Tower for $90M Gain

Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), 233 S. Wacker Dr., $841M ($222 per sf). 7.8% quoted cap rate

New York insurance giant MetLife Inc. did a quick turnaround sale on the landmark Sears Tower, disposing of the 3.5-million-sf tower only seven months after buying it. MetLife held a $776-million mortgage on the 110-story tower, which is currently the tallest in the US, and reported a $90-million gain after taxes. After the sale, the buyers were reported to be a JV of the Feil Organization, Chetrit Group, BLDG Management, Moinian Group and American Landmark Properties Inc. Eastdil spoke for the seller, a JV of MetLife and Tishman-Speyer. READ MORE HERE AND HERE

2005: Tishman Speyer Takes 200 Park Ave.

MetLife Building, 200 Park Ave., $1.72B ($606 per sf), 4.3% underwritten cap rate

For a price "above $1.7 billion," Tishman Speyer has won the MetLife Building at 200 Park Ave. Sources told GlobeSt.com that the property will be owned by a joint venture between TSP, the New York City Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System with additional financing provided by Lehman Brothers. However, a report on Real Capital Analytics lists the buyers in the deal as TSP and Irvine Co. Cushman & Wakefield marketed 200 Park for MetLife, which will maintain offices in the building and will also retain signage rights for the property.

READ MORE HERE

2006: Jamestown Sells 1211 Sixth to
Beacon-Lehman JV

1211 Sixth Ave. $1.52B ($784 per sf), 5.2% underwritten cap rate

In the summer of 2006,Beacon Capital and Lehman Brothers came together to beat out 25 other contenders on the bid for1211 Sixth Ave. with an offer of just over $1.5 billion.Jamestown sold the 1.9-million-square-foot tower, which served as the headquarters for News Corp. The deal was the second-largest single asset sale ever, after the MetLife building sale the previous year. Jamestown tapped Eastdil as its rep.

READ MORE HERE

2007: $1.8B Sale of 666 Fifth Ave. Closes

666 Fifth Ave., $1.8B ($1,161 per sf), 3.3% quotes cap rate

The Kushner Cos. closed on the acquisition of 666 Fifth Ave. Tishman Speyer Properties LP and Prudential Real Estate Investors sold the 1.6-million-sf building for $1.8 billion, setting a city record for a class A office sale. The sale factors out to about $1,200 per sf, which is double the previous record set in May 2005 when Tishman Speyer bought the MetLife Building $1.72 billion. The sale was arranged by Cushman & Wakefield.

READ MORE HERE AND HERE

2008: GM Building Sale Sets New High-Water Mark

General Motors Building, 767 Fifth Ave., $2.8B ($1,455 per sf), 4.7% pro forma cap rate

Having been rumored for some time, the sale of the General Motors Building in the summer of 2008 wasn't necessarily a surprising development. But that doesn't mean it didn't cause a commotion throughout the industry, and with good reason. After all, the $2.8 billion the buyers ponied up for the 1.8-million-sf Manhattan office tower was—and still is—the highest price ever paid for a single asset in the US. At $1,455 per square foot, the price tag was double the then-record amount seller Macklowe Properties paid when it acquired the asset, located at 767 Fifth Ave. between 58th and 59th streets in New York City, in 2003. The GM Building was part of a four-property portfolio Macklowe sold for nearly $4 billion. CB Richard Ellis brokered the deal between Macklowe Properties and the buyers, a joint venture of Boston Properties, Dubai's Meraas Capital and Goldman Sachs, acting on behalf of the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Government of Qatar. Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank also advised the buyers and Proskauer Rose LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP are serving as counsel. READ MORE HERE AND HERE AND HERE

2009: Worldwide Plaza Deal Is On, Again

Worldwide Plaza, 825 Eighth Ave., $590M ($287 per sf), 5.2% quoted cap rate

A collapsed deal to sell Worldwide Plaza—the last unsold property in the Macklowe/Equity Office portfolio—has been reborn as a new deal with the same buyers. A source familiar with the proceedings tells GlobeSt.com that an investment group led by RCG Longview and George Comfort & Sons has agreed to acquire the 1.75-million-square-foot office tower at 825 Eighth Ave. for approximately $600 million, or $345 per square foot. That compares to the $1.74 billion Macklowe Properties paid for the building in February 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics data. After the deal closed, RCA revealed that the buyer was actually a partnership of RCG, GCS, DRA Advisors and the Feil Organization. Eastdil arranged the deal for Macklowe. READ MORE HERE AND HERE AND HERE

2010: Google Clicks On $1.8B for
East Coast HQ

111 Eighth Ave., $1.77B ($598 per sf), 5.2% quotes cap rate

In what would be the largest single-asset sale in the US in 2010, Google signed a contract to buy the 2.9-million-square-foot office property at 111 Eighth Ave., where it already occupies 500,000 square feet of East Coast headquarters space. The $1.8-billion deal was rumored for several weeks. The tech giant has put down a substantial deposit on its 111 Eighth purchase. CB Richard Ellis and law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP negotiated for the buyer. Eastdil Secured, marketed the 15-story property, which takes up an entire city block between Eighth and Ninth avenues bordered by 15th and 16th streets. Eastdil was hired by an ownership group that includes the New York State Common Retirement Fund, Jamestown and Taconic Investment Partners. READ MORE HERE

2011: Paramount Takes 49% of
NYC Tower for $2B

1633 Broadway, $1.62B ($687 per sf)

Paramount Group, Beacon Capital Partners and SL Green acquired the remaining interest at 1633 Broadway, a 49% stake in the 48-story, 2.4-million-square-foot office tower, from a joint venture of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch for $2 billion. Eastdil Secured negotiated the deal on behalf of the seller. Cushman and Wakefield acted for the buyers.

READ MORE HERE AND HERE

2012: $1.15B Gets Amazon Early Christmas Gift

Amazon Headquarters, 426 Terry Ave N-Seattle, $1.16B ($642 per sf)

The buyer behind the biggest acquisition of 2012 wasn't a real estate investment company, a REIT or even a private equity fund. Rather, it was online retailer Amazon.com who gave itself an early