Larry Silverstein and 7 World Trade Center
In the latest sign of his success building and leasing 7 World Trade Center shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein has refinanced the office tower and taken out $65 million in cash.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Silverstein is putting more debt on the property, which was built for $670 million, but thanks to its complete occupancy has swelled to a value of about $940 million. [more]
From left: Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and Jones Lang LaSalle Tri-State President Peter Riguardi
The slow pace of Manhattan leasing is “shocking,” Jones Lang LaSalle Tri-State President Peter Riguardi told the New York Post, as leasing activity through February was down 40 percent from the same two months in 2011.
Commercial landlords and real estate brokers alike are becoming frustrated with the lack of activity and the negative absorption since the final three months of 2011, the Post said. [more]
Rockrose Development CEO Henry Elghanayan (top), Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and 575 Lexington Avenue
Rockrose Development has cut off talks to buy 575 Lexington Avenue from Silverstein Properties and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Crain’s reported, because the price was too high.
The firm was reported to be near a deal to buy the 35-story building between 51st and 52nd streets for $370 million in January, but Rockrose CEO Henry Elghanayan said the negotiations stalled because of the price Silverstein President Larry Silverstein and Calstrs were demanding. [more]
Silverstein Properties CEO Larry SilversteinSilverstein Properties President and CEO Larry Silverstein appeared on CNBC yesterday to discuss the commercial property market in the city and his developments at the World Trade Center construction site (see after the jump).
Silverstein said prices were “off the charts again” and even higher than they were before the crash. “There’s a huge amount of investment capital looking for a home,” he said. “That investment capital comes from all over the world, and its looking to invest, where? In America. Where in America? New York City.” [more]
3 WTC
Three World Trade Center is close to being topped off — 73 stories shorter than initially planned. Crain’s reported that if developer Larry Silverstein, president of Silverstein Properties, cannot find an office tenant for the planned 80-story tower by the end of the year, he’ll cap it off at seven stories and seek retail tenants to fill the structure.
After talks with UBS broke off Silverstein has not come close to finding a tenant, Crain’s said, but if one is found in time, Silverstein will resume construction as planned on 3 WTC with slight delays to the expected 2015 completion date. [more]
From the December issue: The holiday season is upon us, and New York’s society scenesters are busy with glittering galas and luncheons. Real estate moguls are no strangers to these events, and clusters of the industry’s biggest players can be seen at almost every party.
“People from the real estate world really do make a splash,” said Amanda Gordon, the social columnist for Bloomberg News. “The business is all about relationships, so they thrive at events where they can develop relationships that may bear fruit later, or celebrate those [relationships] that have worked out really well for them.” [more]
SL Green Realty CEO Marc Holliday was this year’s real estate honoree at National Jewish Health’s 43rd annual New York fundraising event, held Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Midtown. The event consistently draws a strong real estate presence, as it was founded by developer Larry Silverstein, and this year proved no exception. Many big names in the industry were among the 1,271 attendees, mostly real estate-related professionals, that helped raise more than $3 million for the newly created Holliday Memorial Fund for Lung Cancer Research at NJH. — Marc Becker [more]
After more than 50 years of investing almost entirely within the confines of New York City, Larry Silverstein has signed on to a $666 million venture to buy and develop properties in Poland, Bloomberg News reported.
The developer of new towers at the World Trade Center site has teamed up with Poland’s richest man, Jan Kulczyk, for the project. The duo made their joint purchase in August, buying an eight-story Warsaw office building, Bloomberg said, and is currently in talks to build several new towers in the Polish city.
Kulczyk has “done everything, but one thing he hasn’t done much of is real estate development,” Silverstein said. [more]
Starwood Capital is raising money for a new investment fund, CEO Barry Sternlicht said yesterday at NYU Schack’s capital markets conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and may also choose to sell a key portfolio as the government discourages the fund from leveraging its assets (see photos from the day-long event above).
“We want to leverage the portfolio and the government doesn’t want us to,” he said. “We’re going to have to sell it because it’s stupid to own it unleveraged. Our leverage levels are less than 30 percent. It’s crazy.”
Starwood previously raised $2.8 billion through two funds in 2010 — the Starwood Global Opportunity Fund VIII, which raised more than $1.8 billion, and the Starwood Capital Global Hospitality Fund II, which raised $965 million, The Real Deal previously reported. [more]
As the new executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Patrick Foye made pushing through financing to complete construction at 4 World Trade Center his first priority, the New York Post reported, and that was instrumental in getting the deal done last week.
With financing running dry for the completion of the tower, Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority had been working for the better part of a year on issuing tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to fund the construction work. [more]
