[IMGCAP(2)]"They are definitely trying to get it done," a source familiar with the negotiations tells GlobeSt.com. Other sources support that notion, maintaining that Brookfield and Rreef are diligently working to complete the transaction by year's end. Rreef put its 49% stake in the two towers up for sale this summer, retaining Cushman & Wakefield's Capital Markets Group to handle the assignment. Calls to C&W, Brookfield and Rreef were not returned by press deadline.

Despite the broad silence, sources insist that Brookfield has the towers under agreement. Given the volatile investment sales climate that has gripped the industry during the second half of 2007, observers warn that no deal is safe from falling apart until an actual closing, but one source says the negotiations on 53 and 75 State St. are so far along that a collapse of the pact seems "improbable" at this stage. "They both want it to happen," the source claims of trading the ownership to Brookfield.

Rreef has had an ownership in 53 and 75 State St. since buying into them in April 2000 for $337 million. The older of the two, 53 State St., is a 40-story blue-glass structure that sits at the corner of Congress and State Streets, traditionally the centerpiece of Boston's office market. That tower came on line in 1984, while 75 State St. opened in 1988 two doors east. The 31-story, 800,000-sf tower is considered one of New England's premier corporate addresses and typically rents at the top of the market.

Although Brookfield appears to be offering the exit route for Rreef's ownership in the towers, 53 and 75 State St. were broadly marketed to the outside world and supposedly generated substantial attention from a variety of well-heeled prospects. One investment sales specialist says that activity reflects the quality of the properties, adding the level of interest is especially impressive given that it is only for a portion of the ownership position.