July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s largest bank, plans to sell Manhattan’s Worldwide Plaza to a group of New York investors after pulling out of the transaction last month, a person familiar with the matter said.

RCG Longview and George Comfort & Sons agreed to acquire the tower at Eighth Avenue and West 49th Street for about $605 million, or $345 a square foot, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the talks were private.

Deutsche Bank is selling the last of seven buildings it seized from developer Harry Macklowe. He paid $1.74 billion for the 1.75 million square-foot property in February 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc. data. Manhattan office building prices have dropped 30 percent to 50 percent since the peak in 2007, according to Woody Heller, head of the capital transactions group at Studley, a New York-based brokerage. Heller wasn’t involved in the transaction.

“This will be the largest transaction of the year in Manhattan, and hopefully it will help jumpstart the market again,” said Dan Fasulo, managing director of research at Real Capital, which tracks commercial property sales. “Manhattan has certainly been a laggard because participants are having a hard time figuring out where true pricing levels are.”

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on the transaction.

Deutsche Bank will provide $470 million of financing for the transaction and the buyers will put up $130 million in cash, according to the person. The deal is expected to close later this month, the person said.

Stake Pulled

The earlier deal called for Deutsche Bank to retain a stake in the building and receive revenue based on the property’s future income, said the person. The bank canceled that agreement, which was reached on June 3, after executives became uncomfortable with the structure, the person said.

Eastdil Secured, a New York-based real estate investment firm, negotiated the transaction for the bank.

The 47-story building will have more than 700,000 square- feet of vacant space with the expected departure of advertising and public relations firm Ogilvy & Mather. The vacancy will be the second biggest block of available space in New York, according to Colliers ABR, a commercial property brokerage.

Steve Solomon, a spokesman for RCG and Comfort, said the partners would have no comment. Scott Helfman, a Deutsche Bank spokesman, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: David M. Levitt in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 7, 2009 10:37 EDT