Google signed a contract yesterday to buy its 111 Eighth Avenue New York City home for $1.8 billion in the largest commercial real estate purchase by a tenant in U.S. history, according to the Post. The company put down “serious money,” though not a full 10 percent deposit, accordng to sources. Google currently has 500,000 square feet of the 3 million-square-foot property between 15th and 16th streets, where Nike WebMD and Sprint also reside, but is said to be planning to “gobble up the [other current tenants'] space like Pac-Man,” when their leases are up, as one source put it. 1 Comment

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Google is nearing a deal to buy its massive 111 Eighth Avenue home — one of the largest buildings in Manhattan — for close to its striking $2 billion asking price, the Post reported. The company currently leases more than 550,000 square feet in the 18-story Chelsea trophy and has already made known its plans to expand in New York City. The former industrial property, whose tenants now also include Nike, WebMD and Sprint, contains 2.9 million square feet of space, putting the rumored price tag at around $690 per square foot. But unsurprisingly, Google isn’t the only one angling for control of the asset, which Taconic Partners, Jamestown and the New York State Common Retirement Fund put on the market last month with Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured. Local families, real estate investment trusts, sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East and Asia as well as entities from Beijing, Singapore, Chile, Argentina and Israel are among the others said to be interesting in bidding on the property. [Post]

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From the September issue: Norman Sturner is the co-founder and CEO of Murray Hill Properties, which has bought and sold $10 billion worth of commercial real estate since its 1971 inception, and manages over 5 million square feet of office space. The company’s holdings include 1414 Avenue of the Americas at 58th Street, which Ian Schrager is turning into a luxury hotel. Sturner talked to The Real Deal about marrying young, starting college at 16, shedding two out of three homes in order to travel and the qualities of his success: luck and perseverance. [more]