Limited supply and great demand continue to fuel sales of commercial office buildings in Manhattan. Office buildings are selling at record prices all over the island. The once blighted Times Square region, often called “The Crossroads of America,” has experienced record sales this year. Much has happened in the Times Square area during the last decade.

It was 1992 when the German publishing and broadcasting giant Bertelsmann acquired from the bankruptcy court the newly completed, totally vacant 1.1 million-square-foot office building at 1540 Broadway. The company paid $119 million, or about $110 a square foot, for the tower. Earlier this year, it sold the building to the Paramount Group and Principal Real Estate Investors for $425 million, or $386 a square foot. Principal purchased the building as a long-term investment using the firm’s $2.5 billion U.S. Property Account, which is essentially a retirement fund. In 1992, New York State decided to downsize and postpone the development of four office towers with 4.1 million square feet of office space by visionary George Klein. In 1993, another newly completed vacant building at 1585 Broadway was sold to Morgan Stanley for $176 million, or $135 a square foot.

Today everyone wants to own a building in the area, including the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System. Last week, Tishman Speyer Properties, in partnership with the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, agreed to pay $175 million to the New York Times for its 750,000-square-foot, 15-story headquarters at 229 W. 43rd St. The partnership will pay $223 a square foot for the property. The site actually consists of four buildings that are connected. The Times building has expanded several times since the first building was constructed in 1913.The last Times development on the site was the redevelopment of the former Paramount Theater into office space.

The new owners plan to close on the acquisition before the end of the year. They will lease back the site to the New York Times until its new headquarters building is ready for occupancy in 2007. The Times will be moving to a new tower at 620 Eighth Ave. between West 40th and West 41st streets, across from the Port Authority. They will own and occupy an 800,000-square-foot condominium unit in the new 1.7 million square-foot development. The balance of the building will be owned by a joint venture of Forest City Ratner and ING Real Estate.

The partnership plans to renovate the Times property into a class-A office building and retail space suitable for big-box stores like Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot. In 2001, the Times gained approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission over protection status for the building and gained permission to convert the truck loading docks on the first and basement floors, allowing for the retail sites.

***

Last month, S.L. Green Realty Corp. entered into a contract to sell the 288,000-square-foot office building at 1466 Broadway, also known as 6 Times Square, for $160 million, or $536 a square foot. The buyers are, in partnership, Sitt Asset Management and Steven Sutton. The purchaser has indicated it has an interest in converting the top floors into a hotel. The property is located at the corner of West 42nd Street and Broadway and houses 51,000 square feet of retail space including a 42,000-square-foot Gap store. Wachovia Securities provided financing to the purchaser. The building is the former Knickerbocker Hotel, which had landmark status and was originally built in 1907, converted into office space in 1921, and renovated into showrooms and an office in 1982. S.L. Green acquired the property from the Helmsley estate in 1998 for $65.3 million. This was the second transaction between S.L. Green and the Sitt-Sutton Group. Last year, S.L. Green Realty Corp sold the office tower at 1370 Broadway for $58.5 million, or $234 a square foot.

In May, Murray Hill Properties and its partner ING Real Estate sold the 42-story, 382,000-square-foot office tower at 1450 Broadway on the southeast corner of West 41st Street. The purchaser was a joint venture of the Moinian Group, Chetrit Group, and Edward Minskoff, who collectively paid $121 million, or $316 a square foot, for the building, which was built in 1931.

Instead of selling a property, later this year Murray Hill will be purchasing the 400,000-square-foot property at 1412 Broadway for about $105 million. The seller is a partnership led by the J.E. Roberts Company fund. The partnership originally acquired the building in 2001 from S.L. Green Realty Corp for $92 million.

This June, the City University of New York purchased the former Herald Tribune Building at 230 W. 41st St. between Seventh and Eighth avenues. CUNY paid about $75 million, or $250 a square foot, for the 20-story, 300,000-square-foot building to a partnership that included Prudential Real Estate Investors and Kevin Wang, principal of KW Partners. The partnership purchased the building four years ago for $31.5 million. CUNY plans to open a college of journalism in the building.

Max Capital Management Corp. and the Landis Group are the owners of the 748,000-square-foot office building 1440 Broadway at the corner of W. 40th Street and Broadway. Max Capital acquired the building in 2000 in partnership with Credit Suisse First Boston. In 2002, Max Capital and the Landis Group purchased the CS First Boston interest in the building. The New York Sun has learned that the property will be placed on the market for sale.

Another new office tower will be rising in Times Square, with scheduled completion in 2007. This last August, the groundbreaking was held for the 2.1 million-square-foot, 54-story Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, on the corner of West 42nd and West 43rd streets between Avenue of the Americas and Broadway. The property is a development of the Durst Organization and Bank of America.

At the northwest corner of West 46th Street and Avenue of the America is 1180 Avenue of the Americas. Earlier this month, the German-backed TMW Property Funds announced plans to purchase the 365,000-square-foot building from New York Life for $149 million, or $408 a square foot. The property was built in 1962 and acquired by New York Life in 1996.

One thing is certain: Low interest rates and high demand are helping to maintain the record pace of sales. The availability of fixed-rate financing at record low rates is fueling the purchases of buildings all over the city and especially in the vibrant Times Square area.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@nysun.com.