23-Floor Manhattan Office Building Just Sold at a 97.5% Discount

These headlines happen literally weekly, with front-page articles happening monthly, and the gimmick is always the same: the building comes with debt or other financial arrangements with a negative value. In this case, "The auction was for the building itself, not the land. That is owned by a publicly traded real estate firm, which collects a monthly lease. But the rent from the building’s current tenants is not enough to cover those monthly payments, which are set to increase every five years and do not expire until 2123. ..."

"[...] multiple issues that limited the building’s potential for conversion into residences: 10-foot-tall ceilings, which are short by today’s standards [...]"

I didn't know that 10-foot-tall apartment ceilings are considered "short" these days.

The building was separated from the land. The new "owners" have to pay a land lease.

My grandparents bought the lot next to their house. A business leased the land from them to build a business, then walked away from their building after 10 or 20 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lease#Leases_of_land

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41130147

Yeah no one’s going back to offices despite what people tell you.