GM's New York tower set to fetch record $3 billion

James Bone in New York–
An iconic office tower at the corner of Central Park in New York is destined to set a record price for a single building in the United States by fetching more than $3 billion (£1.5 billion).

The sale of the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue comes with naming rights, as the once-mighty carmaker prepares to move out. After 2010, the purchaser will have the chance to put its corporate logo on the trophy building to emulate such New York landmarks as the Chrysler Building, the Citigroup Centre and the Woolworth Building. The site, across the street from the Plaza hotel between 58th and 59th Street, is familiar to tourists who gather near by to take horse-carriage rides through Central Park.

Mr Macklowe has reportedly received at least three bids of more than $3billion for the building, or approximately $1,578 a square foot.

The record price for an American office building is the $1.8 billion paid for the 41-storey tower at 666 Fifth Avenue in 2006. GM plans to move its remaining New York staff into the Citigroup Centre this year.