NYC skyscraper sale sets new record

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. housing market may be cooling, but skyscrapers in New York City are still red hot.

The commercial real estate firm Tishman Speyer Properties sold the 41-story office building at 666 Fifth Avenue to the New Jersey firm Kushner Companies for $1.8 billion, according to a spokesperson for the Kushner companies.

The contract for the deal, which was signed Monday, is the highest price ever paid for a single office building in the United States, according to Real Capital Analytics, which researches the commercial real estate industry.

Tishman Speyer and TMW, a German investment firm, bought the 1.5 million-square-foot Fifth Avenue building in 2000 for $518 million, according to the New York Times, which reported the story earlier Thursday.

The previous record for an office building sale was last year's purchase by Tishman Speyer of the MetLife building for $1.7 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The building at 666 Fifth Avenue, which opened in 1957, currently houses a number of law firms and bankers, the paper reported.

Tishman Speyer made headlines in November when it partnered with the real estate arm of BlackRock, Inc. (up $1.22 to $148.31, Charts) to purchase two apartment properties in Manhattan for $5.4 billion from MetLife, Inc. (down $0.57 to $57.75, Charts)

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