SL Green

From Crain's: "SL Green Realty Corp. shares soared more than 40% on Monday after the government agreed to bail out its largest tenant, Citigroup Inc. Last week, shares of the real estate investment trust plunged 59% to $11.36 a share on fears that Citigroup might file for bankruptcy. Citi leases 4.8 million square feet in SL Green’s buildings—about 20% of its total space in Manhattan—and accounts for 9.5% of the company’s rental income. Last year, SL Green purchased two downtown office towers from Citigroup for about $1.6 billion. Citi now rents the buildings, which have about 2.6 million square feet of space, back from SL Green under a 13-year lease."

More on that $1.575 billion towers buy here.

On Sept. 17, The Observer's Dana Rubinstein reported that Viacom would re-up for a chunk of SL Green's 1515 Broadway, where the entertainment giant has over 1 million square feet of space under lease until 2010. The Post's Steve Cuozzo reports this morning that the re-up will keep Viacom in that 1 million square feet-plus into 2015, with renewal options for beyond.

The 1515 Broadway dealings have been among the most closely watched of the latter part of 2008, with the city's largest office landlord and its tenant locked in reportedly contentious negotiations for years. No word on what Viacom will be paying to stay in Times Square, but SL Green, according to Mr. Cuozzo, recently signed new leases at 1515 Broadway for $85 a foot.

New Gramercy Capital CEO Roger Cozzi says the commercial real estate finance company's bullish on the immediate future. But first! They have to hire some top people because of a management shakeup this week that saw the departure of CEO Marc Holliday, head of Gramercy's primary investor SL Green, as well as those of chief investment officer Andrew Mathias and chief credit officer Gregory Hughes (Messrs. Holliday and Hughes remain as Gramercy consultants through next September).

Here's GlobeSt on the plans of Mr. Cozzi, a Wharton grad and a former managing director at Fortress Investment:  read more »

In an apparent bid to restore investor confidence, Gramercy Capital Corp. has appointed Roger Cozzi its new CEO. Mr. Cozzi will replace Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green, Gramercy's biggest investor.

Mr. Holliday has headed up Gramercy, a real estate finance and investment company, since its inception in 2004. The firm has taken a beating in recent months. A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that, "the real-estate investment trust has seen its access to capital curtailed by the credit crunch. It also is suffering from a scarcity of property transactions and rising defaults."

The Journal went so far as to conclude that the firm's survival is in doubt. Since January, the firm's stock price has dropped nearly 97 percent.  read more »

This just in: Governor Paterson's office has finalized the selection of Delaware North to transform the beleaguered Queens Aqueduct into a racino (industry jargon for a destination that's part-racetrack, part-casino).

"Today our administration will announce the selection of Delaware North to operate Video Lottery Terminals at Aqueduct Racetrack," said Governor Paterson in a statement. "This is a huge victory for the State, and it comes two weeks after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and I recommended this selection. Each day without a deal cost New York about $1 million in revenue. We are pleased that the Senate Republican leadership has finally recognized the significance of this economic development project for the people of New York.  read more »

Greg Hughes, chief financial officer for New York City's largest commercial landlord, SL Green, said this morning that Viacom, which has leases for 1.5 million square feet at 1515 Broadway, most of which expire in 2010, is likely to renew.

"We’re have ongoing negotiations with Viacom for what seems like five years now," Mr. Hughes said, while giving a presentation at the Merrill Lynch Global Real Estate Conference. "There is a renewal option that comes up that they have that they need to exercise in December of this year. I think if you talked to them they would tell you they like the building very much…"

"They’ll likely exercise their renewal and then there’ll be a spirited discussion over what fair market value reps," Mr.  read more »

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.

 read more »

Leading city office landlord SL Green announced today it had leased 121,441 square feet of its 100 Park Avenue to financial firm BDO Siedman. The lease, which starts in January, is for 15 years and brings the 825,815-square-foot tower at 40th Street to 80 percent occupancy, according to a Business Wire release (which touted the lease as the 15th biggest in Manhattan so far this year).

Howard Ecker of Howard Ecker & Company represented BDO Seidman in the deal, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul Glickman, Tara Stacom, Mitti Liebersohn, Alexander Chudnoff, Diana Biasotti and Jonathan Tootell repped SL Green.

ThoroughbredTimes.com -- our favorite horse racing rag -- is reporting that the state's selection of a vendor to convert the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens into a racino should be happening soon. Real soon.

That's because New York State's Division of Lottery has finally reviewed all three proposals and deemed all three viable.

The parties vying for the chance to remake the dilapidated racetrack include SL Green in partnership with Hard Rock Entertainment; Delaware North Companies with Saratoga Harness Racing; and Capital Play, in partnership with Mohegan Sun, Extell Development and Plainfield Asset Management.

Morgan Hook, a spokesman for the governor, told ThoroughbredTimes.com that Governor Paterson, the Senate majority leader, Dean Skelos, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver now "can begin to have discussions about which one will be best for the state.  read more »

Apple has applied for a building permit at 21 West 34th Street, listing plans for a two-story 19,000-square-foot retail structure on the site, owned by SL Green.

So will this be the next iStore?

Maybe, maybe not.  read more »

SL Green, Manhattan's biggest office landlord, will have its fourth quarter conference call with investors (and media) at 2 today. In a late-night release Monday, the publicly traded landlord touted a strong end to 2007.  read more »

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, announced on Wednesday that it had closed on its $1.575 billion purchase of the two-tower office complex at 388-390 Greenwich Street. Citigroup, the seller in the deal, occupies the 2.6 million-square-foot towers completely and will remain there under a 13-year lease. The Canadian investment firm SITQ was a minority partner in the purchase.

The Observer broke the news of the deal earlier this month.  read more »

The $157 million sale of 470 Park Avenue South has popped up in public records, with the ever-active SL Green shedding yet another Class B property from its portfolio. The buyer, records show, is the insurance giant TIAA-CREF, which seems to have been a relatively inactive trader in the Manhattan real estate scene.  read more »

Stephen Green, the chairman of the city's largest office landlord SL Green, gave his thoughts about the 2009 mayoral race at an investor’s conference on Monday, in response to a question about how a new mayor might affect the city's business climate.

Mr. Green--whose brother, Mark Green, lost to Mayor Bloomberg in the 2001 general election--seemed to be optimistic about the Democratic field, which he has narrowed to two realistic contenders (at least six Democrats are said to be seriously considering a run).  read more »

For years, New York-based SL Green was something of an iconoclast among the city’s largest office landlords, playing around with millions of square feet of Class B office space to make its fortune.  read more »

It seems the Deutsche Bank-owned building at 31 West 52nd Street sold to Albert Behler’s Paramount Group for just shy of $600 million, according to SL Green, the city's biggest office landlord.

Last month, we reported that the building went for more than $500 million, though SL Green today released a slideshow from its investor conference that had a list of recent deals including 31 West 52nd Street (even though, to our knowledge, SL Green wasn't involved in this particular one). The price: $595 million, or $812 a foot for the 723,000-square-foot building.

We have a call out to Paramount to confirm, but haven’t yet heard back.

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, has agreed to buy Citigroup's two towers at 388-390 Greenwich Street for over $1.575 billion.

SL Green CEO Marc Holliday announced today during the public company’s investor conference that SL Green, in a partnership with the real estate firm SITQ, had gone to contract on two buildings in Lower Manhattan totaling 2.6 million square feet--the size of 388-390 Greenwich.  read more »

A partnership of Paramount and Sherwood Equities has picked up a West Side building from SL Green for $160 million, a source familiar with the deal said.

The property, 440 Ninth Avenue, was sold as SL Green is trying to shed itself of some of its Class B portfolio, aspiring to gain a more polished image in the world of Manhattan real estate.

The investment sales pros at Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal. Calls to the firm and to SL Green have not been returned.  read more »

It says something about landlords these days that during a quarterly conference call to investors on Tuesday, SL Green CEO Marc Holliday spent the better part of the opening 15 minutes focusing exclusively on leasing activity.  read more »

SL Green announced this morning that it has entered into an agreement to sell 470 Park Avenue South for $157 million, or about $604 per square foot. The firm did not name the buyer, calling it in a release “an undisclosed institutional owner of real estate.”

SL Green, the city’s largest office landlord, acquired the 260,000-square-foot office building at 31st Street in 1997. It’s 96 percent leased.

CB Richard Ellis represented SL Green on the deal.

The Observer’s John Koblin will have more on SL Green’s third-quarter maneuverings and earnings in Wednesday’s print edition.

SL Green, the city's biggest office landlord, will release its third-quarter earnings today after the close of stock market trading. The real estate investment trust's management team, led by chief executive Marc Holliday, will then host a conference call on Tuesday afternoon.

The Observer's John Koblin noted that SL Green's stock has had a rough 2007. The landlord remains active in New York, however. If you had its portfolio, including One Madison Avenue and 1515 Broadway, you would too.

The growing fears over the credit markets are affecting everyone, but it seems that Real Estate Investment Trusts are suffering the most.  read more »

SL Green’s sale of 292 Madison is a done deal, and the prolific city landlord made a healthy profit off the transaction.

The 193,000-square-foot, 26-story office building sold for $140 million on June 7, according to city records. The New York Post reported when the deal went to contract back in April to the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Real Estate Investors.  read more »

The Clocktower at 1 Madison Avenue officially belongs to Lev Leviev.

The building went to contract for $200 million in May to Leviev's Africa Israel, which purchased it from SL Green, Aby Rosen's RFR Holding and Ian Schrager.  read more »

A few things learned from SL Green’s quarterly conference call with investors:

• Andrew Mathias, CIO, said that the company is considering either recapitalizing or selling two buildings: the 1.1-million-square-foot 420 Lexington Avenue and the 560,000-square-foot 625 Madison Avenue.
• Marc Holliday hinted that SL Green might sell the development site near Grand Central where a 900,000-square-foot tower can be built. “We’re working it, looking at it and there is nothing to report now,” he said. “It’s something we’re going to be focused on to try to pass the ball on because the market is right for it now.”
• SL Green will refurbish the 1.8-million-square-foot 1515 Broadway, with or without Viacom, which just signed a 400,000-square-foot lease in Hudson Square. Mr. Holliday said the renovation would be done with the goal to push rents at more than $100 per square foot.
• When SL Green paid more than $300 million for a majority of the land underneath the Lipstick Building, it did so at the same time Haim Revah’s Metropolitan Real Estate went to contract in April. SL Green was not a last-minute investor to help Revah, as one investor and several real estate people thought was the case.
• Anne Taylor signed an unreported renewal at 1372 Broadway for more than 100,000 square feet.

It's that day again! The day when Marc Holliday and Andrew Mathias of SL Green announce a myriad of moves to the firm's shareholders. As a result, over the last day there's been a tidal wave of SL Green news.

Most recently, the company announced this morning that there was a recapitalization at 1372 Broadway with Wachovia. The banking giant will take an 85 percent interest in the building for $335 million.  read more »

Walmart is moving their executive offices to Times Square.

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, announced today that the strip-mall staple has signed a 10-year lease for 46,103 square feet at 1372 Broadway. The executive offices will occupy the entire second floor and second-floor mezzanine of the building, according to the press release.

SL Green completely renovated the 21-story, 534,000-square-foot building in 1999. The release noted that other tenants in the building include Ann Taylor Inc. and Ross Stores Inc.  read more »

SL Green now controls its biggest trophy yet.

SL Green announced this morning that it paid $317 million for the majority of the land beneath the Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue. SL Green, along with its investing partner Gramercy Capital Corp, will control 79 percent of the fee portion of the building and 21 percent of the leasehold position.  read more »

It’s official: The Clock Tower at Five Madison Avenue has sold for $200 million. A Tuesday release from part-owner SL Green says that Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel is, indeed, the buyer. The 41-story Clock Tower was also owned by Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding and by hotelier Ian Schrager.

Mr. Schrager told The Observer first in March about the tower’s likely sale.  read more »

The New York Post is reporting that Africa Israel, the company that is in contract to buy the old New York Times building on West 43rd Street for $525 million, has "tendered the accepted bid" to buy One Madison Avenue, the legendary old Met Life building with its iconic clock tower looming over Madison Square Park.

If it is contract, it would be the second trophy won in three weeks by the developer Lev Leviev, who heads up Africa Israel.

It was less than three weeks ago that principals at SL Green confirmed to its investors that One Madsion was even for sale. The building was going on the market and would have a formal bidding process, one that generally takes months.

But just like he did with the Times building, Mr. Leviev has evidently named his number and come down with it in one fell swoop before the process even went to first round bids.

Ian Schrager, who is one of SL Green's investment partners in the building, told The Observer first last month that the building might be up for sale.