In the latest sign of investors strong appetite for high-profile commercial real estate in the Triangle, a New York real estate investment firm has paid $76.95 million for the Research Tri-Center buildings in Durham, according to Durham County property records.

Northwood Investors purchased the 1.5 million square feet of warehouses and offices near Research Triangle Park from Grosvenor Investment Management, a subsidiary of a London investment firm that paid $105.5 million for the property in 2007 at the peak of the market.

Grosvenor's purchase price, about $70 per square foot, was roughly twice what the previous owner, Chicago-based Transwestern Investment, paid in 2005.

Northwood paid about $51 per square foot.

Research Tri-Center includes eight industrial distribution buildings, a flex building and an office building.

Research Tri-Center is currently 88 percent leased to 26 tenants including GlaxoSmithKline, UPS, FedEx Ground, Verizon and Parata Systems.

While Northwood's purchase price for the 130-acre planned campus is significantly less than what Grosvenor paid, it is an impressive figure given the state of commercial real estate.