Commercial investors may look to Worldwide Plaza as model

Commercial investors may look to Worldwide Plaza as model
October 23, 2009 12:10 PM

Real estate investor Peter Duncan, who scored a deal on the 49-story Worldwide Plaza building in July, now has the chance to shape the New York commercial real estate market’s investment landscape. Duncan, who is president of George Comfort & Sons, purchased the property at 825 Eighth Avenue for $590 million, roughly a third of what Harry Macklowe paid for it in February 2007. The price means Duncan might be able to lease out the first 14 floors, which stand vacant as the second-largest empty space in the city, for as little as $30 or $40 per square foot, according to Robert Sammons, research director at Colliers ABR. Whereas Midtown office buildings have had a rough year — CB Richard Ellis Group reported that there have been no single leases in the area for more than 250,000 square feet — low prices may hasten leasing activity for the space in Duncan’s building formerly occupied by advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather. That could, in turn, encourage other investors to take on risk in buying up more New York office buildings, said Jim Frederick, also of Colliers. [Bloomberg]

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2009/10/23/commercial-investors-may-look-to-peter-duncan-s-worldwide-plaza-as-model/

NYC Tower Buyers Wrestle Towering Vacancy Dilemma (Update1)

NYC Tower Buyers Wrestle Towering Vacancy Dilemma (Update1)
By David M. Levitt - October 23, 2009 13:08 EDT

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Real estate investor Peter Duncan, who negotiated the nation’s biggest property deal of the year in buying Manhattan’s Worldwide Plaza, is now in charge of a skyscraper that’s 40 percent empty.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJG1.l7fPiik

Frankfurt: Grounds for optimism in spite of upheaval

Property

Frankfurt: Grounds for optimism in spite of upheaval

By James Wilson in Frankfurt
Published: October 2 2009 16:02 | Last updated: October 2 2009 16:02

Frankfurt’s property market professionals are surprisingly optimistic about the city’s prospects in spite of the inevitable upheaval that the deep banking crisis has caused in Germany’s financial capital.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c0b8a95a-ad13-11de-9caf-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2PXw36Vqx