Recap of 230 Park seals big loss for Goldman

Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall real estate fund lost substantial money on Monday Properties’ recent recapitalization of 230 Park Avenue. According to the Wall Street Journal, Goldman is abandoning its stake in the building following the transaction, with the building’s valuation hundreds of millions of dollars less than what it was bought for at the height of the bubble. Goldman partnered with Monday Properties on the $1.15 billion purchase of the 34-story office tower near Grand Central Terminal in 2007, and admitted at the end of 2010 that the property’s value had sunk some $300 million. The firm would not quantify the exact loss it suffered, but it’s one of many the Whitehall fund has incurred since investing heavily in real estate in 2006 and 2007. It recently exited two investment properties in California for a loss, and Goldman has yet to launch a new investment real estate fund in its place. [WSJ]