From the December issue: A Japanese industrial firm paid $501 per square foot for a Midtown skyscraper known as Tower 49, a price that at the time was the highest ever paid for a Manhattan office building, 22 years ago this month. The company, Kato Kagaku, purchased the 45-story midblock high-rise at 12 East 49th Street, between Fifth and Madison avenues, from the building’s developers for $301 million. The 600,000-square-foot skyscraper was built by David Solomon, G. Ware Travelstead and First Boston on an irregular parcel extending from 48th to 49th Street and opened in 1984. Kato Kagaku, a manufacturer of corn-based products, still owns the building today. The tower is home to a variety of companies, including the corporate offices of retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, financial firm Steinberg Asset Management and the sales office for metal recycling firm Schnitzer Steel Industries. The previous highest price for a major Manhattan office building was the Japanese real estate company Shuwa’s purchase in June 1986 of the American Broadcasting Corporation building at 1330 Sixth Avenue for $175 million, about $365 per square foot.

Broadpoint Gleacher Securities Group has signed a 15-year lease on 75,000 square feet at 1290 Avenue of the Americas at 51st Street, owned by Vornado Realty Trust, and is looking to expand beyond that space in the future. The asking rent was between $50 and $60 per square foot. In the new location, the financial services firm will have a trading floor that will be connected to its office functions on the floor below by a central reception area. The group will sublease its current office space at One Penn Plaza at 49th Street and Madison Avenue.