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.