NEW YORK CITY-Eighteen months after being seized by mezzanine lender Otera Capital, 1330 Ave. of the Americas is changing hands for about $400 million, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing unnamed sources. The buyers are a group of investors led by Long Island-based RXR Realty, which signed a contract on the 461,00-square-foot office property over the weekend, according to the WSJ. A spokesman for RXR confirms that the WSJ report is accurate.

If the purchase price quoted by the WSJ—about $750 per square foot—is accurate, it would be the second Manhattan office deal in as many weeks to suggest a return to 2006-era values. The price is about 30% less than the $498 million Macklowe Properties paid for the 40-story property in December ’06, but well above the $500 per square foot that another former Macklowe tower, Worldwide Plaza at 825 Eighth Ave., sold for last year.

A week ago, GlobeSt.com reported that Edge Fund Advisors and HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd. had paid $254.8 million for a 49% stake in the office component of 1540 Broadway, once part of the eight-building portfolio that Macklowe acquired from Equity Office Properties in early 2007. The deal valued the office portion of the tower at $520 million, just $5 million less than EOP had paid in ’06.

This is also RXR’s second direct investment in Manhattan this year, and in fact its second since being formed in ’07. This past spring, it acquired a 49% interest in the 739,000-square-foot office tower at 340 Madison Ave. for an estimated $279.3 million. At the time, RXR CEO Scott Rechler said in a release now is “the opportune time to be investing in Manhattan, as the leasing markets have bottomed and are primed for a near-term recovery.”

GlobeSt.com will provide more information on the deal as it becomes available. Click here for the complete WSJ article.