This month in real estate history

From the July issue: An investment group owned by members of the Rockefeller family announced plans 27 years ago this month to refinance Rockefeller Center — a move that ultimately raised a record-breaking $1.3 billion.

The Rockefeller Group, a company owned by descendants of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., said in July 1985 that it would create a publicly traded real estate investment trust called Rockefeller Center Properties Inc. and raise $1.1 billion through a stock offering. That fall, the REIT, which was headed by David Rockefeller until 1992, ultimately raised $1.3 billion, making it the largest real estate financing to date, according to a Goldman Sachs executive quoted in the New York Times. [more]