SL Green makes $146M retail play on Fifth Avenue

SL Green Realty has paid $146.2 million to develop 45,000 square feet of Retail Space Along Fifth Avenue, in a series of deals with Gary Barnett’s Extell Development.

At a low-rise building at 570 Fifth Avenue, Extell sold everything under 180 feet to SL Green for $34.9 million. And in a similar deal at 574 Fifth Avenue, Extell sold everything under 180 feet to SL Green for $43.8 million.

On 46th Street at 562 Fifth Avenue, SL Green paid $67.5 million for the land while Extell paid $11.7 million for the air rights above 180 feet, the New York Post reported. Barnett will use the air rights to build a new tower at West 46th Street just west of Fifth Avenue, according to the newspaper. The new tower will cantilever over a portion of the planned SL Green retail building.

SL Green CEO Marc Holliday had alluded to the assemblage in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week. Holliday did not disclose details at the time, saying only that it was a “site with enormous upside,” and was “highly, highly under-utilized.” [NYP]  – Hiten Samtani