At issue is Wellsford/Whitehall, owner of record of those fivemillion feet. WCPT manages the package for partners WRP(approximately 41% ownership) and Whitehall, a collection ofseveral private equity funds managed by Goldman Sachs. And theGoldman Sachs side likes what they see--they've started talks tobuy out most or all of the package. The majority of the propertiesare in NJ, some are located in Maryland and Massachusetts.

As president of WCPT, Richard R. Previdi has shepherded thegrowth of the portfolio and is widely credited as one of thedriving forces in NJ real estate today. He couldn't be reached forcomment, but WRP chairman Jeffrey Lynford told GlobeSt.com that"Richard and his group have done a magnificent job of acquiringproperties and adding value to them. Our theme, our mission, is tocreate value and try to realize it.

"Goldman Sachs came to us," Lynford confirms, adding that hecan't say much about what's going on because of the SEC's strictdisclosure rules. In any case, "Goldman Sachs recognized theinherent value of the properties and they initiateddiscussions."