entertainment in sydney: SL Green Teams with ... - West Chester Real Estate Information

NEW YORK, Oct 03, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) ?
SL Green Realty Corp.

/quotes/zigman/187150/quotes/nls/slg SLG
-5.18%

today announced that it has formed a
venture with Stonehenge Partners and entered into a contract to acquire
eight retail and multifamily properties for $416 million. Stonehenge,
one of New York City?s most prominent multifamily property operators,
will reposition and manage the residential portion of the portfolio. The
transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.

SL Green indicated that a key component of the transaction is 724 Fifth
Avenue, a prestigious retail location located between 56th
and 57th streets in Manhattan?s Plaza District. The renowned
Italian fashion house Prada currently occupies approximately 20,700
square feet including the grade, mezzanine, second floor and lower level
retail, as well a boutique office floor. The property enjoys prime
position along the ?Gold Coast? of Fifth Avenue ? a retail corridor
known to achieve some of the highest retail rents in the world. It is
situated in the vicinity of other retail properties which SL Green has
ownership of, including 717 Fifth Avenue, home to Giorgio Armani?s
flagship store and the future flagship store of Dolce Gabanna, in
addition to 720 Fifth Avenue.

The residential portion of the portfolio includes a total of 402 rental
units located in prime Midtown and Upper East Side submarkets. The SL
Green/Stonehenge venture plans to significantly upgrade a selection of
units and building amenities in an effort to maximize value. Stonehenge,
which currently owns and manages over 2,560 apartment units in New York,
will bring to bear its specific expertise to the venture and will be
responsible for day-to-day management and marketing of the multifamily
assets along with the execution of the renovation/upgrade program.

The transaction is the latest in a series of significant investments by
SL Green that have involved premier retail properties and locations.
Previous notable examples have included the recently-concluded 1552-1560
Broadway transaction, the American Eagle and Aeropostale flagships in
Times Square, and the recently acquired 747 Madison Avenue.

The full portfolio being acquired in the transaction announced today
includes:

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724 Fifth Avenue, a 12-story building that currently includes the
Prada retail space and several floors occupied by gallery tenants.

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Interests in 752 Madison Avenue, a four-story retail building
completely occupied by Armani under a sub-lease arrangement that
expires in 2025.

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Interests in 19-21 East 65th Street, a pair of mixed-use
properties adjacent to 752 Madison Avenue. The combined properties
include 9,000 square feet of retail, office, and gallery space, along
with 17 multifamily units.

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762 Madison Avenue, a five-story building located between 65th
and 66th streets and also adjacent to 752 Madison Avenue.
The asset includes 6,000 square feet of office, retail and gallery
space, with the lease on the ground floor retail space expiring in
2013.

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44 West 55th Street, a five-story commercial building
located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. With two floors currently
vacant and leases on two additional floors scheduled to expire in
2012, the well-located midtown building offers a significant
repositioning opportunity.

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400 East 57th Street, a 260-unit multifamily building
located on the southeast corner of 57th Street and First
Avenue. While already featuring attractive common areas, the SL
Green/Stonehenge venture plans to implement a strategic capital plan
to upgrade select building amenities. In addition the venture will
upgrade the ground floor retail space as needed in order to capture
market-level rents from credit tenants.

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400 East 58th Street, also located along First Avenue. The
building features 125 multifamily units and 4,000 square feet of
ground floor retail space, with the latter currently leased at
below-market rents to non-credit tenants.

Andrew Mathias, President of SL Green, commented ?This is an exciting
opportunistic investment for SL Green, which already has an outstanding
track record in acquiring and repositioning New York City office and
retail properties. We also are excited about making our first
significant equity investment in the multifamily area, which helps to
diversify our portfolio further while still maintaining our New York
City focus.?

Marc Holliday, Chief Executive Officer of SL Green, added, ?In joining
forces with Stonehenge Partners, we have brought together two companies
with complementary strengths. Along with our property renovation and
repositioning know-how, we have considerable experience in underwriting
residential transactions through our structured finance program.
Stonehenge is one of the city?s best multifamily property operators. We
believe the residential portion of this venture will produce solid
returns.?

Ofer Yardeni, managing partner and co-founder of Stonehenge Partners,
said, ?The Stonehenge footprint in New York City continues to expand and
this venture with one of New York City?s pre-eminent real estate
companies further enhances our presence and brand. We look forward to
collaborating with the SL Green team in repositioning these properties
and bringing them to their full potential value.?

FTI Consulting Inc. served as an advisor to SL Green and Stonehenge in
the transaction. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver Jacobson LLP
represented SL Green and Kirkland Ellis LLP represented Stonehenge
Partners in the transaction. Greenberg Traurig, LLP acted on behalf of
the seller.

About SL Green:

SL Green Realty Corp., New York City?s largest office landlord, is the
only fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is
focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of
Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2011, SL Green owned
interests in 57 Manhattan properties totaling more than 33.6 million
square feet. This included ownership interests in 25.8 million square
feet of commercial properties and debt and preferred equity investments
secured by 7.6 million square feet of properties. In addition to its
Manhattan investments, SL Green holds ownership interests and debt and
preferred equity interests in 32 suburban assets totaling 7.3 million
square feet in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County,
Connecticut and New Jersey, along with four development properties in
the suburbs encompassing approximately 465,000 square feet.

About Stonehenge Partners:

Founded in the early 1990?s by Ofer Yardeni and Joel Seiden, Stonehenge
Partners is a fully integrated real estate company based in New York.
The firm which has 55 employees is primarily invested in Manhattan
multifamily real estate. Stonehenge, together with its investment
partners, currently owns and manages a real estate portfolio valued at
nearly $1.8 billion. The portfolio is comprised of 19 properties
representing approximately 3.2 million square feet, including 2,560
residential apartment units, office, retail and garage space. For more
information about Stonehenge Partners please visit
www.stonehengenyc.com

Forward-looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed to
be ?forward-looking statements? within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are intended to be covered
by the safe harbor provisions thereof. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, included in this press release that
address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or
anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such matters as
future capital expenditures, dividends and acquisitions (including the
amount and nature thereof), development trends of the real estate
industry and the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester County,
Connecticut, Long Island and New Jersey office markets, business
strategies, expansion and growth of our operations and other similar
matters, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by us in
light of our experience and our perception of historical trends, current
conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe
are appropriate.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and actual results or developments may differ materially, and we caution
you not to place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking
statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words ?may,?
?will,? ?should,? ?expect,? ?anticipate,? ?estimate,? ?believe,?
?intend,? ?project,? ?continue,? or the negative of these words, or
other similar words or terms.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual
results, performance or achievements to be materially different from
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
forward-looking statements made by us. These risks and uncertainties
include the effect of the credit crisis on general economic, business
and financial conditions, and on the New York metropolitan real estate
market in particular; dependence upon certain geographic markets; risks
of real estate acquisitions, dispositions and developments, including
the cost of construction delays and cost overruns; risks relating to
structured finance investments; availability and creditworthiness of
prospective tenants and borrowers; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major
tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; adverse changes in
the real estate markets, including reduced demand for office space,
increasing vacancy, and increasing availability of sublease space;
availability of capital (debt and equity); unanticipated increases in
financing and other costs, including a rise in interest rates; our
ability to comply with financial covenants in our debt instruments; our
ability to maintain our status as a REIT; risks of investing through
joint venture structures, including the fulfillment by our partners of
their financial obligations; the continuing threat of terrorist attacks,
in particular in the New York metropolitan area and on our tenants; our
ability to obtain adequate insurance coverage at a reasonable cost and
the potential for losses in excess of our insurance coverage, including
as a result of environmental contamination; and legislative, regulatory
and/or safety requirements adversely affecting REITs and the real estate
business, including costs of compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and other similar laws and
regulations.

Other factors and risks to our business, many of which are beyond our
control, are described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new
information or otherwise.

SOURCE: SL Green Realty Corp.

          SL Green Realty Corp.         Andrew Mathias, 212-594-2700         President         or         Heidi Gillette, 212-594-2700         Director, Investor Relations

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