NYC Trophy Update: GM Tower Gone, Chrysler Building Going, Macklowe Prizes on Block…Plus, a Spire to Inspire

The action has been as hot as Manhattan’s recent heat-wave for New York City’s most prized towers. First, the much-discussed Macklowe Properties sale of the General Motors building closed today, according to the official announcement by the buyer, a joint venture that includes Boston-based Boston Properties, US Real Estate Opportunities I L.P., a partnership managed by Goldman Sachs and Meraas Capital L.L.C., a Dubai-based private equity firm. The final pricetag: approximately $2.8 billion, less than asked, but more, according to some industry watchers, than will be easy to manage, as the deal comes with more than $2 billion in debt. Boston Properties has a 60 percent interest in the venture and will provide property management and leasing services. Next, New York Post’s Lois Weiss has just reported that the landmark Chrysler Building is under negotiation with an $800 million deal for a 75 percent stake going to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Tishman Speyer Properties owns the remaining 25 percent stake and will remain its operator. According the the Post, the Chrysler assets are being offered by TMW – the German arm of an Atlanta-based investment fund. Also in the news is another chunk of Macklowe’s empire. Deutsche Bank AG, according to Bloomberg News, may be selling three New York office towers seized after default on debt payments for seven properties acquired at the peak of the commercial property boom in February 2007. According to Bloomberg’s sources, San Francisco-based Shorenstein agreed to buy Park Avenue Tower and 850 Third Ave. Paramount, based in New York, is in talks over acquiring 1301 Sixth Ave. News of these landmark buildings coincides with an art opening that perhaps speaks well to the allure of these buildings that transcends, even for veteran professionals, the simple business of building, buying and selling them. Today is the unveiling at Rockefeller Center of artist Chris Burden’s “What My Dad Gave Me,” a 65-foot-tall skyscraper (pictured) made entirely of toy construction parts pays homage to the historic skyscrapers that populate New York and that give the city its iconic architectural presence. “I have always wanted to build a model skyscraper using Erector parts.” He says in a statement, adding, “The circle of actual buildings inspiring a toy in 1909, which is then used to build a model skyscraper the size of an actual building in 2008, is a beautiful metamorphosis.” The exhibition is presented by the Public Art Fund. it is hosted by Tishman Speyer, co-owners of Rockefeller Center.