Macklowe exits residential real estate biz

Harry Macklowe is getting out of residential real estate altogether with the sale of all three of his apartment buildings to Equity Residential, Sam Zell’s real estate investment trust, for a combined purchase price of $475 million. Reports had surfaced Friday that Macklowe was close to a deal to sell the Rivertower at 520 East 54th Street for $150 million. The 324-unit building, which has $21.5 million in gross income and $66 million in debt, sold for “very close” to that price, a partner in the building told the Post this weekend. Along with the Rivertower, Macklowe sold the Longacre House at 305 West 50th Street, and 777 Sixth Avenue, each with 293 units and a little more than $80 million in debt. Both the Rivertower and 777 Sixth Avenue have already closed; Equity Residential expects to close on the Longacre House by May 1. Macklowe also sold the Drake Hotel site at Park Avenue and 56th Street to the CIM Group last week for $305 million. [Post] and [Reuters]