From left: 17-19 Union Square West and 420 Lexington Avenue (building credits: PropertyShark)The company responsible for maintaining the elevator at 285 Madison Avenue that killed a Young & Rubicam ad executive earlier this month is facing several lawsuits from people injured by their elevators, the New York Post reported.

There are at least eight active cases against the company, Transel. One was filed by the building super at 17-19 Union Square West, who became permanently injured after falling down the elevator shaft when he stepped through open doors before the elevator had arrived. He alleges Transel bypassed the elevator’s parking device which would prevent such an accident. [more]

Real estate data company CoStar is expanding its New York City office presence, according to Crain’s, more than doubling its space with a 12,000-square-foot office at 1177 Sixth Avenue between 45th and 46th streets. Although the company had been on the hunt for raw space it could build out, CoStar eventually settled on the space, which sits among the building’s upper-level floors. Although the rent is unclear, asking rents for similar space in that building range from $75 to $85 per square foot. CoStar will be leaving its current New York City office at 420 Lexington Avenue, where it had leased 5,000 square feet. [Crain's]

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From left: Marc Holliday, head of SL Green, which signed leases at 220 East 42nd Street and 420 Lexington Avenue

SL Green Realty reported for the first time in nearly six years that new leases signed for its Manhattan properties were for prices averaging less than what was being paid for the given location, the company said in statement yesterday.

The Midtown-based real estate investment trust included the information on new leases in its quarterly earnings statement released yesterday.
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SL Green Realty has purchased another leasehold position at the Graybar Building, the 31-story office and retail tower above Grand Central Terminal at 420 Lexington Avenue. The $7.6 million transaction is the second of its kind in recent months. SL Green, which handles both management and leasing at the building, purchased W&M Properties’ leasehold position in August, also for $7.6 million, and in September began to alter the building’s ground-floor leases in order to simplify the ownership structure. SL Green’s mortgage on the Graybar Building was originally due next year, but it refinanced the loan. Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman advised the company on the acquisition. TRD

SL Green Realty is altering some ground-floor leases at the Graybar Building, at 420 Lexington Avenue between 43rd and 44th streets, to simplify the building’s ownership structure before it gets a new mortgage. Several groups have ownership stakes in the building, though it is managed and leased by SL Green. The company bought one ownership stake from W&M Properties early last month for $7.6 million, according to public documents. W&M’s Anthony Malkin said SL Green had approached W&M several times to sell portions of the building. SL Green’s existing mortgage on the building was originally due next year, but the company was able to refinance thanks to the W&M deal and several others.

Despite a tight lending environment, New York-based pension fund TIAA-CREF financed a $145 million leasehold mortgage on SL Green Realty’s Graybar Building, at 420 Lexington Avenue in Midtown, according to a statement released today by Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman, which arranged the deal. The 31-story, 1.5 million-square-foot tower sits above Grand Central Terminal, and was acquired by the real estate investment trust SL Green in 1998. It is 97 percent leased, the statement says. TRD [more]