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A 23-story Manhattan office tower that sold in 2006 for $332 million has changed hands in an online auction for $8.5 million – a 97.5% loss.

The New York Times reported the owner of the property, an investment fund run by UBS Realty Investors, had previously tried to offload the building for under $50 million, but that transaction fell apart. Instead, the company held a two-day, public online auction on the Ten-X real estate auction site, where it was listed alongside motels and suburban strip malls.

The identity of the new owner will be announced following the official closure of the sale. However, the auction only covered the building located at 135 West 50th St. – the land is owned by a publicly traded real estate firm, which collects a monthly lease. But the 920,000-square-foot building is only 35% occupied, giving it one of the market’s highest vacancy rates.

The property was built in 1963 on the site of the 5,920-seat Roxy Theatre, which was once the world’s largest cinema. Over the years, its tenants included the jewelry retailer Zales, the New York Telephone Company (the predecessor of Verizon) and the corporate headquarters of Sports Illustrated.

Booking.com

Photo courtesy of LoopNet

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