NEW YORK, March 6, 2009

Spitzer Tries Hand At Real Estate

Ex-N.Y. Governor Buys D.C. Office Building Blocks From Site Of Encounter With Prostitute

  • Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace last year amid a prostitution scandal, is getting involved in commercial real estate with the purchase of a Washington, D.C. office building.

    Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace last year amid a prostitution scandal, is getting involved in commercial real estate with the purchase of a Washington, D.C. office building.  (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

  • Interactive Spitzer Scandal

    New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is the target of a federal prostitution investigation.

(AP)  Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer is working as a commercial real estate investor and has bought an office building just a block from the site of the infamous encounter with a high-class prostitute that led to his downfall.

Working with his father's real estate company, Spitzer worked on the deal to buy 1615 L St. NW, a 13-story building that counts among its tenants the Washington outpost of the Nixon Presidential Library, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening on its Web site.

The former governor says he walked through the building, talked to the tenants and made "sure the building was in every respect what we wanted." His family, which owns a number of towers, intends to keep the building for years, and so is unconcerned that its value might fall in the short term, he told the newspaper.

"We are optimists," he said, adding of the economy overall: "What we are facing is as much a psychological hurdle as a real economic hurdle."

The former New York attorney general stepped down as governor on March 12, 2008, after details of a tryst with a prostitute in the Mayflower Hotel were revealed. Investigators had been looking into Spitzer's affairs after noticing unusual activity - later shown to be payments to prostitutes - in the governor's bank accounts.

Spitzer declined to speak of the scandal that led to his resignation, saying of his years in government: "Obviously it brought great joy for a great period of time."

He told the newspaper he is enjoying his new endeavor. "I love the vitality and the dynamism and the competition of the marketplace," he said.

Asked if it's better than government, he said: "They are different."

© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by quapawsix March 8, 2009 10:24 AM EDT
Ahh the smell of money. Enjoy now money is going Bye Bye
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by andie52 March 8, 2009 9:58 AM EDT
Is McCain any better? His ex wife is more than gracious about being dumped but McCain's acquaintances are less forgiving,
They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to 'play the field'. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.
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by cbsantispin March 8, 2009 4:58 AM EDT
This type of disclosure should disqualify someone from serving in a high Public Office which is why I don't understand how Republican Senator David Vitter who did the exact same thing can just say he is sorry and continue to serve as a U.S. Senator! Maybe I'm missing something, somebody fill me in. It is because former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's had a high-class prostitute and Senator David Vitter had a low-class prostitute? A prostitute is a prostitute, high class or low so Vitter should go!
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by karlimhof March 7, 2009 5:23 AM EST
mr. clean wasn't so clean after all - maybe his rabbi has forgien him but not the electorate.
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by opedanderson March 6, 2009 9:59 PM EST
What BS!

So what! The guy got his rocks off with paid help. What's wrong with that. I feel for his wife but really it's a private matter for them to work out.

He did amazing work going after Wall Street. Maybe we wouldn't have ended up in the mess we have, had we let him keep his job.

Sex is sex. We are animals who need it. Just like food, drink and shelter. Get over it. And grow up people.
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by mariannpepit March 6, 2009 2:26 PM EST
He will make more money in real estate than being governor or NY. No, his wife did not divorce him. And they didn't tell their business to the news media who are always looking for a story plus adding lies to it. What he did was wrong betraying his wife but evidently she didn't want a divorce and kept their home together. I believe he will never make the same mistake again like Bill Clinton who also never did. And Hillary never talked to the news media. I am sure that office building cost several millions but his family is rich.
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by rational_1 March 6, 2009 12:06 PM EST
Get with Barney Frank....he'll be able to give you the inside scoop on saving money on your mortgage.
Posted by dongo3 at 8:03 AM : Mar 6, 2009

Ya, but he'll also want to spoon you afterwards!
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