
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995                   TAG: 9508040029
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Short

DISNEY CONSIDERS DEAL FOR ROCKEFELLER CENTER

Walt Disney & Co. is considering making a bid with Chicago real estate investor Sam Zell for a bankrupt New York landmark, the Rockefeller Center, according to people familiar with the situation.

Disney and Zell are in talks with the owner of the property, Rockefeller Group Inc., and with the company that holds the $1.3 billion mortgage on the property, Rockefeller Center Properties Inc. Rockefeller Group and Rockefeller Center Properties are separate and unrelated companies.

Disney, the entertainment company that this week announced plans to buy New York-based Capital Cities/ABC Inc. for $19 billion, could face competition from other bidders.

Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s Whitehall Street Partnership, Leucadia National Corp., and a team made up of real estate developer Jerry Speyer and General Electric Co. also plan to make offers, the people said.

No other details on the bids were immediately available.

Disney's interest in Rockefeller Center comes as the entertainment company steps up its involvement in the New York real estate market. In July, Disney agreed to spend $34 million to renovate the 92-year-old New Amsterdam Theater in Times Square. The renovation is part of a larger project by the city and state to restore the Times Square district.

Zell, who calls himself the ``grave dancer'' because of his affinity for buying stakes in down-and-out properties and companies and turning them around, is one of the nation's foremost real estate investors.

by CNB