From left: SL Green CEO Marc Holliday, 280 Park Avenue (building photo source: PropertyShark), and Vornado Chairman Steven Roth

Vornado Realty Trust and SL Green Realty each has its own large management team charged with day-to-day operations of its portfolio of assets. But the Wall Street Journal reported that when the two firms teamed to take control of 280 Park Avenue, they made the unusual move of hiring an outside firm, CBRE Group, to manage the Midtown office tower, rather than pick between one of its own divisions.

The move to hire CBRE quelled concerns over how the two huge real estate firms would work together on a single asset. Though the Journal said leases at the building do still take longer to close, and the companies reportedly disagreed over which architect to hire for the $100 million renovation of the building, SL Green executives said the partnership has worked well. [more]

John Madden, the interior of his Dakota apartment, and the private entrance off of the interior courtyard

Hall of Fame football coach-turned-legendary sports commentator John Madden has put the 2,000-square-foot co-op he owns at the Dakota on the market for $4.9 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, Madden, who now lives primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, purchased the five-room apartment for $625,000 in 1985, from comedian Gilda Radner, who had paid just $150,000 for it during the late 1970s. The Central Park West maisonette, at 72nd Street, has original moldings, two fireplaces and a rare, private entrance off of the storied building’s interior courtyard. [more]

Construction workers gathered yesterday at an open landing in a brand new Meadowlands stadium to watch 34-year-old Giants Stadium’s demolition kickoff. The $10 project is slated to take roughly four months and began at Gate B, part of which overlaps with the concourse of the as-yet-unnamed future home of the Jets and Giants football teams. Once that area is clear, crews from Westbury-based Gramercy, the contractors in charge of the demolition project, will move on to the stadium’s interior, where seats are being sold to fans as memorabilia, and will then take apart the stadium from the top down. The new stadium, slated to officially open in May with a Bon Jovi concert, will be the third largest in the National Football League, with room for 82,500 fans, including 9,500 club seats and 222 luxury suites. [Post]