SL Green Unveils Newly Repositioned 521 Fifth Avenue
December 17th, 2007 at 3:27 PM
Leading Retailer and Prominent Corporations Added to Tenant Roster in 2007
New York, NY – December 17, 2007 – SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) today announced the completion of its $25 million capital improvement program at 521 Fifth Avenue, a 39-story office tower containing 462,853 rentable square feet. Located on Fifth Avenue at 43rd Street, the building is the most recent example of SL Green’ s ongoing strategic repositioning efforts aimed at delivering greater value from its properties, particularly in the Grand Central Terminal submarket.
The redevelopment of 521 Fifth Avenue is most visible by the restored façade of Deer Island granite and new glass and stainless steel storefront. Inside, SL Green has completely redesigned the lobby with Bianco Romano marble, tiger wood paneling and stainless steel accents, and new prominent entrance. The building also features new stone clad elevator cabs, upgraded security systems, new corridors and bathrooms, new windows and enhanced building infrastructure.
Since the third quarter of 2006 when SL Green commenced its capital improvement program at 521 Fifth Avenue, the building has signed 125,000 square feet of office leases with existing tenants seeking to lock in value and new tenants -- both attracted by the building’ s repositioned appeal and location. Occupancy levels have remained high at 97 percent. Noteworthy new leases executed during this period include renowned asset manager, Shelby Collum Davis & Co. LLP, UK reinsurance firm, Hiscox, Inc, leading executive search firm, Sextant Search Partners, programming production and distribution company, Starz Media LLC, prominent father-daughter wealth management team, Alexandra and James (IDB Capital Corporation) and Royal Healthcare of Long Island.
In the second quarter of 2007, Circuit City Stores, Inc., a leading national retailer, signed a new 15-year lease covering 25,866 square feet for part of the ground floor and the entire second floor. Circuit City’ s move to 521 Fifth Avenue was impressive for its size but was also recognized for signaling the emergence of large national retailers in an area of Fifth Avenue more traditionally dominated by smaller stores.
“The repositioning of 521 Fifth Avenue is a great example of the type of commercial real estate value creation SL Green has become associated with,” commented Steven Durels, Director of Leasing and Real Property. “We are very pleased with our leasing results at the building since the start of our redevelopment program as these serve to acknowledge our vision for this Class A property as well as the continuing appeal of the Grand Central Terminal submarket where we currently own and manage sixteen office towers with over 8.6 million square feet.”
Company Profile
SL Green Realty Corp. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, that predominantly acquires, owns, repositions and manages Manhattan office properties. The Company is the only publicly held REIT that specializes in this niche. As of September 30, 2007, the Company owned 31 New York City office properties totaling approximately 22,353,200 square feet, making it New York's largest office landlord. In addition, SL Green holds investment interests in, among other things, retail properties (10) encompassing approximately 393,789 square feet, development property (one) encompassing approximately 85,000 square feet and land interests (two), along with ownership of 36 suburban assets totaling 7,867,500 square feet in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Tags: 521 Fifth Avenue