Big buys for L.A. firm

Metropolitan Real Estate Investors is purchasing both the Lipstick Building and 292 Madison Avenue. The L.A.-based firm is paying $607 million to buy the Lipstick Building, at 885 Third Avenue, from Tishman Speyer and $140 million to buy 292 Madison Avenue from SL Green. “It’s part of our strategy to get into the Manhattan market in a very serious way,” said Metropolitan’s Haim Revah. The firm has significant commercial holdings in other parts of the country but is a newcomer to Manhattan’s commercial real estate scene. more [Post]