36% loss. Private equity firm Blackstone sold two 13-story Class A office towers, the Griffin Towers, in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, for $82 million to a joint venture between Barker Pacific Group and Kingsbarn Realty Capital. The towers, built in 1987, have a vacancy rate of 24%.

Jingle mail. Blackstone has been dumping other office towers, including most prominently a year ago when it walked away from the mostly vacant 26-story, 621,000-square-foot, 1950-vintage property at 1740 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan to let the lenders – CMBS holders – take the remaining loss.

47% loss. In Houston, Parkway Property sold the 960,000-sf San Felipe Plaza in Uptown, to Sovereign Partners for $82.8 million in late March. The tower was built in 1984. Parkway Property ended up with the tower when it acquired Thomas Properties, which had bought the property in 2005 for $156.5 million. So this was a loss of 47%.

88% loss and 82% loss. Finding a buyer for an office tower produces far better results than selling it in a foreclosure sale. For example, in Houston’s Energy Corridor, two towers at Westlake Park were sold in foreclosure sales. The towers were collateral for CMBS, and investors took the losses on the debt.

What Are Older Office Towers Worth When They Finally Sell amid Record Vacancy Rates? Not Much. Huge Losses Everywhere | Wolf Street