From left: Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth, Patrick Foye, executive director of Port Authority, and 20 Times SquareVornado Realty Trust has abandoned its plan to build a 40-story tower atop the Port Authority Bus Terminal after its Chinese investment partner chose to invest the $600 million earmarked for the tower in another Midtown property, the New York Times reported.

Vornado had been in talks with Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to build the tower at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue since 1999. The tower would have been designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, and included a garden atop the existing four-story terminal. As part of the agreement, the developer was also on the hook for a $400 million renovation of the bus terminal that would have brought 18 new gates to the bus hub. … [more]

[Updated at 2:30 p.m.] When Boston-based real estate investment firm the Rockpoint Group announced that it had sold its stake of Park Avenue Plaza at 55 East 42nd Street earlier this month, the company declined to reveal how much it had received for the sale — but in New York City, secrets don’t stay secret for long.

According to public records filed with the city yesterday, Rockpoint received a massive $569.1 million for its 49 percent share of the 1.2 million-square-foot plaza plus another building at 49 East 52nd Street. The company was represented by CBRE, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. The buyer, Soho China, provided a residential address at 1185 Park Avenue, the same building where JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon resides.

Tenants at Park Avenue Plaza currently include BlackRock, McKinsey & Co. and Swiss Re., it was previously reported. Rockpoint bought into the building last year for around $330 million or $570 per square foot. — Katherine Clarke… [more]

From left: CBRE’s Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan, 2 Grand Central Tower and 299 Park Avenue

It’s been a good week for CB Richard Ellis’ Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan. The Alaska Permanent Fund has agreed to pay $1,075 per square foot for a 49.5 percent stake they were marketing in 299 Park Avenue, sources told the New York Post, in a deal revaluing the property at $1.25 billion.

The pair were hired by the Rockpoint Group to market their share in May. Rockpoint purchased the stake from Swiss bank UBS in January 2010. That earlier deal had valued it at just over $600 million, or $625 per square foot.

Developer Fisher Brothers still holds the majority share and runs the Class A building…. [more]

The Fisher family, who began developing real estate in 1915, has reached a deal to sell its 49 percent minority stake at Park Avenue Plaza — at Park Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets — for about $330 million, partly to raise cash to take advantage of opportunities in today’s distressed market. The stake was sold to Rockpoint Group, an investment firm that also owns a 49 percent interest in another office tower controlled by the family, 299 Park Avenue. The deal fits into the family’s strategy of selling minority interests in their properties, but not relinquishing control. “From the family’s perspective we’re in a great position to take advantage of some of the dislocation that may be coming,” Winston Fisher, grandson of a founding Fisher, told the Wall Street Journal. The Fishers have also reached a settlement with developer Sheldon Solow, who is about to complete a buyout of the Fishers’ stake in a partnership between them that soured. While they are looking to become more active buyers, the Fishers are not in a rush. “We’re on the hunt,” Fisher said, but “we don’t have to do anything right now.” [WSJ] and [NYO]

… [more]

Swiss bank UBS is said to be on the hunt for some 800,000 square feet of New York-area office space, making it the largest tenant in the market, Bloomberg reported. UBS already has roughly 5 million square feet in the tri-state area, including offices at 299 Park Avenue and 1285 Avenue of the Americas, Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken, N.J. and a trading complex in Stamford, Conn. Some of the bank’s existing leases are expiring in 2013, though it is unclear which ones, and as such, the bank is beginning to search for offices in new and existing buildings in Manhattan and its outlying areas, according to Kris Kagel, a UBS spokesperson. Sources said UBS had already requested proposals from landlords, but Kagel said a decision likely wouldn’t come for several months. “It would definitely be a boon to the landlord that lands them,” said Robert Sammons, research director for Colliers ABR. “Manhattan rents are at or near their low point. It remains an ideal market for the tenant.” [Bloomberg]

With commercial property values spiraling downward, foreign investors are looking to inject capital into Manhattan’s premier buildings, but some experts say they’re too eager for their own good. There’s not enough product to go around, said columnist Lois Weiss, and foreigners are having trouble securing bids on properties, or even getting their calls returned. “Everyone shows up wanting to buy trophies on the cheap and thinks they’re going to steal the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building,” said Will Silverman of Studley’s capital markets group. Nonetheless, many foreign investors are succeeding in their efforts, and benefiting from exchange rates to boot. Recently, Joseph Cayre partnered with Israeli IDB Associates in purchasing 452 Fifth Avenue from HSBC at $400 per foot, and another Israeli company, Gilmore and Optibase, is acquiring SL Green Realty’s 485 Lexington Avenue at $560 per foot. The Middle Eastern Safra family is in serious talks to buy a 49 percent interest in 299 Park Avenue from UBS, and the Italian Sorgente Group purchased a piece of the Flatiron Building this week. [Post, 1st item]

On the heels of UBS’ $1.3 billion loss in the second quarter of 2009, its
third consecutive quarterly loss, the Swiss bank last week subletted
28,000 square feet of office space at 299 Park Avenue to a firm called
MarketAxess. The new 8.5-year lease at the Fisher Brothers-owned
building comes less than two weeks after law firm Orrick Herrington signed a lease
for some of UBS’s old space at the CBS Black Rock building, after the
troubled bank terminated its lease there early. CB Richard Ellis’ Brad
Gerla represented MarketAxess in the negotiations and CBRE’s Bob
Alexander, Sinclair Li and James Ackerson represented UBS…. [more]

According to the Post, UBS is selling its 49 percent stake in 299 Park Avenue, the 1.16 million-square-foot tower between 48th and 49th streets. UBS has more than 750,000 square feet in the building. The bank is not planning to sell a set of floors, but rather its ownership interest in the property. Managing partner Fisher Brothers holds 51 percent ownership in the building. Sources told the Post that Robert Alexander, Darcy Stacom, Pat Murphy and Bill Shanahan of CB Richard Ellis will be fielding offers for UBS. The building is fully leased until 2018, and sources predicted the sale will go for under $700 per square foot.