From the December issue: Now that the light bulbs have been changed and the solar power panels have been harnessed, real estate firms in New York are gearing up for Sustainability 2.0.

In fact, just about every big New York firm has some sort of sustainability department or point person: Jones Lang LaSalle, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE Group, Vornado, Silverstein Properties, the Durst Organization, Malkin Holdings, the Related Companies and SL Green, to name just a few.

And there’s good reason for that. Gone are the days of merely hanging out a sustainability shingle that touts a building owner for being concerned about the environment.

In recent years, investors have started paying closer attention to how green an asset is before deciding whether to pump their own greenbacks into the property. [more]

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]

From left: Mary Ann Tighe of CBRE, Jimmy Kuhn of Newmark and 3 Columbus CircleAdvertising behemoth the Young & Rubicam Group will move into 340,000 square feet at SL Green’s 3 Columbus Circle, in a commercial condominium purchase and lease, the New York Times reported. The move marks the last major advertising agency to defect from Madison Avenue, the street that is synonymous with the industry as a whole.

Young & Rubicam took a condo interest in 214,372 square feet on floors three through eight, and signed a 20-year lease for 124,760 square feet on floors 9, 10, 18 and 19 at the 26-story tower. Three Columbus Circle, also known as 1775 Broadway, occupies the entire block between Eighth Avenue and Broadway at 59th Street. The deal includes naming rights for the building.
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From left: SL Green President Andrew Mathias, 180 Maiden Lane, 280 Park Avenue and 3 Columbus Circle

SL Green Realty, the city’s largest landlord, has suddenly put a halt to its acquisition binge, Crain’s reported, and has turned its focus to filling the space it already owns.

Since the end of 2009 the firm has had a hand in many of the large office tower trades in Manhattan, bringing its portfolio to 34 towers and about 25.5 million square feet. SL Green even dabbled more heavily in retail properties and, for the first time, residential properties. Earlier this year, it assembled 49,000 square feet of retail space in Times Square with Jeff Sutton, and acquired an eight-building portfolio including 724 Fifth Avenue with Stonehenge Partners. Comments

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From left: LPC Chairman Robert Tierney and the Brooklyn Municipal building in the Skyscraper Historic DistrictUnder Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Robert Tierney has anointed more historic districts than any other administration has, but Crain’s noted that his zeal is beginning to meet some resistance.

Tierney has designated 27 such districts in his eight years, with a particular focus on the outer boroughs as previous chairs were accused of focusing too exclusively on Manhattan. But the development community and the property owners in those areas have criticized the LPC because the designations mean more expenses for them. [more]

From the November issue: Three autumns ago, the collapse of Lehman Brothers knocked the wind out of New York’s real estate industry. Home sales flattened. Prices plunged. And, as layoffs mounted, office buildings emptied out. While there have been some spurts of activity, the industry has not gotten back to the highs of the boom. In fact, as the unemployment rate still hovers at an uncomfortably high level, and Wall Street (a once-reliable real estate engine) reports losses, it seems that a complete recovery might be years away.

All the same, there are signs of comebacks — whether they are from developers who once defaulted on mega-loans and seemed like pariahs, or stock prices that have bounced back from the doldrums at some public real estate companies. There are also geographic stretches of the city that had been pocked with empty retail spaces and empty condo buildings, but are now filling up with stores and residents. There are even some bankers who had been caught up in the subprime mess who are now back on the lending scene in a big way. [more]

From left: Jeff Sutton, SL Green President Andrew Mathias and 141 Fifth Avenue

SL Green Realty and its joint venture partner, Jeff Sutton, have made an agreement to sell two retail condominium units totaling 9,860 square feet at 141 Fifth Avenue for $46 million, SL Green announced today. The identity of the buyer was not immediately clear.

The transaction, which is subject to the lender’s approval of the transfer, is expected to generate around $17.5 million in net proceeds for SL Green, the company said in a statement.

Andrew Mathias, president of SL Green, said: “SL Green continuously looks to take advantage of evolving market conditions to enhance both its office and retail portfolios with selective dispositions and acquisitions. We are very pleased with the growth and success of our retail platform and anticipate making more strategic investments in the near term.” -- Katherine Clarke [more]

Ian Schrager and the Clock Tower at 5 Madison AvenueHotelier Ian Schrager appears to be returning to the Clock Tower at 5 Madison Avenue.

According to Real Estate Weekly, Marriott International purchased the 220,000-square-foot office tower overlooking Madison Square Park from Africa Israel and plans to turn it into an Edition Hotel, the boutique hotel line it launched with Schrager. Africa Israel was previously reported to have sold the tower for $165 million, but the buyer was only identified as “a credit-worthy” one.

Though Marriott typically does not own its real estate, the hotel operator wants to buy property for its struggling Edition line, which it hopes will compete with Starwood’s W Hotel brand, to help get it off the ground [more]

From left: Wharton Properties President Jeff Sutton; Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green; Jeffrey Gural, chairman of commercial brokerage Newmark Knight Frank; 1552 Broadway and 1560 Broadway

SL Green Realty and joint venture partner Jeff Sutton have found a way to possibly triple the
retail space at the 15,000-square-foot 1552 Broadway in Times Square without
making the building any bigger.

Because constructing new floors at the landmarked commercial building is
severely regulated, they are going horizontal into neighboring 1560 Broadway,
a 17-story office building controlled by Newmark & Co. Real Estate, a property
landlord that is an affiliate of the commercial brokerage Newmark Knight
Frank.

SL Green and Sutton, president of Wharton Properties, closed on the
$136.55 million purchase of the four-story 1552 Broadway Aug. 19 [more]

Landlord SL Green has signed on tenants for 150,000 square feet of space in Manhattan, the New York Post reported, first at the former Revlon building at 625 Madison Avenue and then at 100 Church Street.

Polo Ralph Lauren is expanding its corporate headquarters by 91,417 square feet at the Madison Avenue location at 59th Street, the Post said, pushing out Centerline Capital Group, which needed slightly less space than it had at the site and will be moving to Church Street.

Centerline is taking 57,945 square feet at the Church Street location, and will move by the end of 2011.

SL Green Executive Vice President Steven Durels said the asking rent at the now fully-leased 625 Madison Avenue was $68 a square foot. [more]