Eliot Spitzer's Return to Washington Is in Real Estatedoh

Eliot Spitzer is returning to Washington, D.C., but this time as an investor in the commercial real-estate market.

The former New York governor, who resigned in disgrace a year ago after getting caught patronizing a prostitute in a Washington hotel, has purchased a prominent office building blocks from the White House through his father's real-estate company.

The Spitzers are paying $180 million to buy 1615 L St. NW, a 13-story dark-glass building whose tenants include the public-relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, the Washington outpost of the Nixon Presidential Library and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.

The move is part of the ex-governor's re-emergence into public life and a renewed interest in the successful real-estate business founded by his father, Bernard Spitzer. In an interview, Mr. Spitzer spoke about the investment, the economy and about his new life in business after "a detour along the way" as New York's attorney general and governor.

"Obviously it brought great joy for a great period of time," Mr. Spitzer said about his years in government. Mr. Spitzer declined to discuss the scandal that led to his resignation.
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Eliot Spitzer is buying 1615 L St. NW in Washington, above.

The purchase comes at an inauspicious time in commercial real estate, amid falling prices and high debt. Any deal of this size is getting a lot of attention for what's happening to values.

The Spitzers are buying the building from a distressed seller that defaulted on part of its debt. Private-equity firm Broadway Partners bought the tower at the end of 2006 for $209 million, according to Real Capital Analytics. Broadway's lenders have moved to foreclose on several buildings.

But the Spitzers aren't paying a bargain-basement price. While $180 million is well below what the previous owner paid, it's above what the building sold for five years ago, $124 million.

Mr. Spitzer said his family intends to hold the property for years and is unconcerned that values might fall further. "We aren't trying to time the global market," he said.

Click here to read more on this story from the Wall Street Journal.