Jeff Lewis of Bravo’s “Flipping Out,” and the foreclosed house he purchases on the show

Foreclosed homes might wreak havoc on the national housing market, but they also make for great TV, if the recent proliferation of shows centering on flipping foreclosed homes is any indication of things. According to the Wall Street Journal, four shows — including three new ones — will debut a season in the coming months that focuses on buying and profiting off foreclosed homes.

Spike TV is launching a show called “Flip Men” about a Salt Lake City pair trying to profit off foreclosed homes, A&E has a former “Survivor” contestant starring in a new show about flipping houses later this year, and DIY Network is developing a show about flipping foreclosed homes that is slated to premiere in 2012. Meanwhile, the fifth season of Bravo’s “Flipping Out,” features its star, Jeff Lewis, negotiating with lenders to buy a foreclosed house for himself. [more]

Hachette Filipacchi, the publisher that recently lost out to beauty giant Avon in talks to take over several open floors at the William Kaufman Organization’s 777 Third Avenue, is reportedly closing in on a deal at the 48-story Time-Life Building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center. The contract would be for 132,000 square feet of space previously occupied by Lehman Brothers, which had subleased the three floors from Time Inc. Hachette would be downsizing significantly from its current 263,010 square feet at 1633 Broadway, which is owned by Paramount. Deloitte is also expected to vacate 1633 Broadway soon, in a move that could leave the door open for television network A&E. Currently located at 235 East 45th Street, A&E is in the market for 350,000 square feet of space and is rumored to have looked at the Empire State Building and Worldwide Plaza in addition to Paramount’s building. [Post]