THE market has spoken.

Three more former Equity Office Properties assets now owned by Harry Macklowe are under contract to institutional investors.

As we suspected last month, Paramount Group is due to sign a contract for 1301 Avenue of the Americas for $1.45 billion.

Meanwhile, Shorenstein, which had hoped to pocket that trophy asset, ended up inking a deal for around $930 million to take home a 94.5 percent interest in the partnership that owned both 850 Third Ave. and the larger Park Avenue Tower at 65 E. 55th St.

The tab for the latter comes to $665 million, or $1,100 a square foot, and $325 million, or $530 a square foot, for 850 Third.

Developer George Klein still retains a small interest in both buildings that is now valued at about $60 million, bringing the full value of the package to $990 million.

“This market is coming back to life at some respectable price points,” said one investor.

Eastdil Secured brokered the deal for 1301, with Cushman & Wakefield getting credit as the marketer on the two-building package, which was handled on behalf of Macklowe’s lender, Deutsche Bank.

Sources tell us Paramount is the bank’s largest worldwide borrower, while Shorenstein is its largest in the US – something that was not lost on the suits at Deutsche.

For a month or so, a Mor roccan group had an agreement to buy all the properties – including the GM Building, the Deutsche Bank portfolio and Macklowe’s leg acy buildings – and it was theirs to lose. Which they did.

The current spate of deals by these savvy, large institutional investors should be a comfort to the market.

“It’s easy to justify high pricing from a foreigner who has various reasons to deploy capital, but here our most sophisticated players believe they will make money,” said one investment banker.

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Walgreens’ deal to take over the center of Times Square and the iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop building at One Times Square with a store and prominent signage is taking a victory lap.

Brokers Patrick A. Smith and Hugh Kelly of Staubach Retail, who brought in the tenant, and Jeffrey D. Roseman, Marc Leber, David Falk and Stephen Schofel of Newmark Knight Frank Retail representing the Jamestown building owners, won the Real Estate Board of New York’s award for the most creative retail deal of the year.

At the cocktail party held at 101 Park Ave. last night, Jeffrey Winick of Winick Realty Group won the award for the deal that most significantly benefits Manhattan for the Columbus Village retail development on Columbus Avenue between West 97th and West 100th streets. [email protected]