From left: Steve Coutts, 499 Park Avenue (source: PropertyShark), 450 Park Avenue (source: PropertyShark), 1114 Sixth Avenue

Downtown landlords who inked major leases in Class A buildings last year made
practically no money on those deals once basic expenses were subtracted, a
recent report from commercial advisory firm Studley shows.
Office building owners of Class A towers earned an average of just $0.53 per
square foot on the approximately 15 large leases inked in 2010, once taxes,
operating expenses, electricity and concessions were accounted for.
That is down from the peak of $28.93 per square foot in 2007, and it was the
lowest landlord effective rent recorded since Studley began conducting the
survey in 1995. In it, they review the lease figures from direct, full-floor lease
deals in Class A buildings that have a term of at least 10 years. The survey
looked at deals in buildings such as 88 Pine Street, 7 World Trade Center and 77
Water Street, brokered by a variety of firms. [more]

SL Green Realty said it completed a $215 million deal to refinance 100
Park Avenue, a luxury office tower between 40th and 41st streets that
it owns under a joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors.
Two German lenders, DekaBank and Helaba, led a group of banks in the
refinancing of 100 Park Avenue. The other lenders include PB Capital,
Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG and Modern Bank.
The deal is significant because it shows that experienced and
financially stable developers will be able to finance new deals despite
the weak lending environment stemming from the 2008 collapse of the
capital markets, according to analysts.
“For those owners who can stabilize their portfolio and the debt
service associated with it, they’re going to be in a better position to
weather the ongoing storm,” said Steve Coutts, senior vice president of
research at Studley. [more]