N.Y. Landmarks for Sale to Foreigners?

June 12, 2008— -- Is another New York landmark being sold to foreign investors?

The New York Post reported Wednesday that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a fund based in the United Arab Emirates, is in negotiations on an $800 million deal to buy a 75 percent stake in Manhattan's Chrysler Building. The report was based on information from unnamed sources.

Potential players in the deal weren't talking Wednesday. Theresa Miller, a spokeswoman for Prudential Real Estate Investors -- which owns a 75 percent stake in the building -- declined to comment on whether a sale was in the works.

The Post had reported that the Atlanta-based company TMW was the prospective seller, but Miller said TMW had been fully integrated into Prudential since the latter bought TMW several years ago.

An attempt to reach Abu Dhabi Investment Council was unsuccessful. Real estate company Tischman Speyer, which owns the remaining 25 percent stake in the building, declined to comment.

It's the second time this week that news has broken of a foreign buyer investing big-time in a prominent New York address. Time magazine reported on Tuesday that Sorgente Group, the company led by Italian real estate investor Valter Mainetti, has acquired a majority share of Manhattan's famed Flatiron Building, a historic structure known for its triangular shape.

Foreign buyers "love to come to New York," said Anne Marie Moriarty, a vice president at Corcoran Reality. Moriarty, who deals in residential New York real estate, said that her business from European buyers has doubled since January 2007.

With the weak dollar, American real estate can be a bargain for overseas shoppers, and New York, she said, proves especially attractive.

"When you think about it, New York really is not that large," Moriarty said. "There's not that much inventory, so I think they feel it's a very solid investment."

According to Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics, New York last year was the most popular U.S. city for foreign buyers of commercial real estate. Twenty percent of the U.S. commercial real estate bought by foreign buyers, he said, was in New York.