$195m Greenwich St. sale.

A partnership between investor Joseph Sitt and Andrew Heiberger, the founder of Citi Habitats, has agreed to purchase 88 Greenwich Street for $195 million from owner Worldwide Holdings Corp.

The 458 unit, 37-story former commercial office property, which was converted into a 80/20 residential rental building by Worldwide in 2000, very likely will join what is becoming a long list of rental buildings that have been bought for conversion to condominiums.

According to Eastdil broker Douglas Harmon, who handled the transaction, the new owners plan to convert a large portion, if not all, of the building to condos.

88 Greenwich will be following directly in the footsteps of its neighbor, 71 Broadway, a building that Worldwide also owned and converted to rental units before selling the building in 2004 to Equity Residential, the residential arm of REIT giant Equity Office Properties. That building garnered about the same price per s/f that 88 Greenwich Street achieved and was promptly converted from rental units to condos.

Harmon called the two deals among the first former office buildings located downtown to have been converted to residential rental units and then reintroduced to the market.

"It shows that Worldwide was the pioneer in downtown conversions," Harmon said. "They were doing it long before it became such a popular trend."

Harmon described the sale of 88 Greenwich as another example of the effect that the current level of record pricing is having on long-term property owners. Last month it was announced that The Related Companies, which has earned a reputation for not selling the buildings it develops, is preparing to sell off two 80/20 buildings it developed, the upper West Side's Columbus Green and downtown's Parc Place. Both are being brokered by Harmon, who expects them to grab up to $200 million.

"If you had a stock and you bought it low and now it's incredibly high, the temptation to cash in is tremendous," said Harmon. "Related has 20 buildings in the city and they figure why not take two and cash in."

Harmon is also handling the upcoming disposition of Harry Macklowe's River Terrace, a building that many consider to be among the most attractive candidates for a condo conversion. The 410-unit residential rental building located on the East Side at 72nd Street already has all the amenities high-end luxury condo buildings typically boast such as a pool, squash courts and also a retail component. Bids for that property are due next month and Harmon believes it could sell for up to $400 million.