New York, NY – August 8, 2012 – SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) announced today that it has formed a joint venture with Stonehenge Partners that will enter into a 99-year ground lease covering a residential building at 1080 Amsterdam Avenue. The joint venture will invest approximately $13 million into the transaction, including a complete redevelopment program which will begin shortly after the partnership takes possession.
1080 Amsterdam Avenue is a 82,250-square-foot, 20-story pre-war elevator building located just south of Columbia University’s campus, at the northwest corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 113th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The property, comprised of 96 apartments and two commercial units, was most recently utilized by St. Luke’s Hospital Center to house hospital staff. After taking possession, the SL Green/Stonehenge partnership will deploy a strategic renovation program to include common corridor upgrades and window improvements, as well as elevator, heating, and electrical system upgrades, in order to convert the property into a luxury Upper West Side residential address. The redevelopment is expected to be completed within 24 months from its commencement.
Ofer Yardeni, Managing Partner of Stonehenge, said, “Our relationship with SL Green is certainly off to a great start. Capitalizing on our respective strengths, we seek to take advantage of the best property ownership opportunities, acquire those properties, and then maximize value in ways that appeal to tenants while also meeting our objectives as investors. Together, we believe we are building a strong foundation for long-term success.”
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, 2012, SL Green owned interests in 71 Manhattan properties totaling more than 39.2 million square feet. This included ownership interests in 27.4 million square feet of commercial properties and debt and preferred equity investments secured by 11.8 million square feet of properties. SL Green also owns 385 residential units in Manhattan encompassing approximately 0.5 million square feet. In addition to its Manhattan investments, SL Green holds ownership interests in 32 suburban assets totaling 6.9 million square feet in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey, along with four development properties in the suburbs encompassing approximately 0.5 million square feet.
About Stonehenge Partners:
Stonehenge Partners is a fully integrated real estate company which was founded over 18 years ago by Ofer Yardeni and Joel Seiden. The Company owns and manages a 26 building portfolio encompassing over 3,000 rental apartments and close to 800,000 square feet of retail, office and garage space. The Company is headquartered at 888 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.
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.
Contact:
Andrew Mathias
President
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Heidi Gillette
Director, Investor Relations
212.594.2700