The U.S. commercial real estate market took something of a respite in 2016, during a year characterized by political volatility. Compared to the previous year, when the market fired on all cylinders, office players were more cautious in 2016, with leasing and sales activity cooling down to more sustainable levels, per most industry reports. Office tenants were reluctant to make any major moves pending the conclusion of the presidential election, thus lease renewals and consolidations took the stage in the past year. Though office sales activity also decreased 7% year-over-year, according to Colliers, the national transaction volume was still the fourth-highest yearly total in the past 15 years, reaching $140.5 billion. We enlisted the help of Yardi Matrix sales data to round up a list of the 50 largest office deals of 2016. The results of our analysis aren’t all that surprising: the New York City office investment market remains the most attractive destination for both local and offshore buyers, though other markets also landed a good deal of capital in the past year. The U.S. office market is poised to become even more attractive in the future, especially to foreign investors, if Brexit goes through. Check out the list of the top 50 largest office deals of 2016 on the CommercialCafe blog. NYC Home to Largest Single-Asset Sale of the Year The priciest office transaction in New York City and the second-largest overall office deal of the year was the $1.93 billion sale of the AXA Equitable Center at 787 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. One of the biggest investments in pension fund CalPERS’ history, the sale closed Jan. 27, 2016, at $1,179 per square foot. The 51-story, 1.6 million-square-foot tower is LEED certified and includes 49,000 square feet of retail space, a parking garage and access to the underground concourse of Rockefeller Center. CalPERS bought the...