Barclays Taking Lehman Tower in $1.5 B. Deal, SL Green Happy

Barclays, as part of its acquisition of some Lehman Brothers assets, will take Lehman's headquarters at 745 Seventh Avenue, according to a release issued today:

Barclays has also agreed to acquire Lehman Brothers New York Head Office at 745 Seventh Avenue and two data centres in New Jersey for close to their current market value, estimated at £0.8bn (US$1.5bn). The combined consideration totals some £1.0bn (US$1.75bn).

Greg Hughes, SL Green's chief financial officer, who is, as we write, giving a presentation at the Merrill Lynch Global Real Estate Conference, said the news was a good sign:

Now as we take stock of what happened over the weekend, between Lehman, between Merill, and between AIG, there’s between 5 and 6 million square feet of space that they occupy in midtown, another 6 million downtown, so we’re watching and trying to take stock of what’s going to happen there. Barclay’s buying the Lehman building is some good news this morning, but we think there is going to be downward pressure on the market. It’s tough to think other than that, to think that we have lost 3 of the 5 broker dealers in a six month period of time is stunning.