CoStar buys MBA building

CoStar just paid $41.25mm for a building that cost $90 mm to build just 2 years ago. But wait, there's more. MBA, the mortgage bankers association of America, paid for it partly with a $75mm mortgage loan. Although I don't know the terms, the timing is about right for a development loan to be coming due.

It's a little ironic that a major CRE news/data provider is buying a distressed property (it's shiny though) from a industry group that represents CRE bankers. One might venture so far as to say it is representative of the shift from large banks to boutiques.

UPDATE 2/9/10: The WSJ had this great quote today that is sure to make someone go postal...

The worst part of buying "that stupid office building," Mr. Petrie says, was that it led to emergency cost-cutting that forced the MBA to dismiss some "wonderful people" on its staff. Mr. Kempner, who resigned in 2008, says the board approved the purchase unanimously.