From left: Steven Roth, Kings Plaza Mall, Monmouth Mall and Green Acres Mall

Vornado Realty Trust has commissioned Eastdil Secured to market its stakes in three New York City-area malls, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the investment trust looks to exit the sector. The Steven Roth-led firm wants to unload a 32.4 percent stake in Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza Regional Shopping Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot mall that’s 95.6 percent occupied and anchored by Sears, Lowe’s and Macy’s. The property has a $250 million mortgage and posts annual sales figures of $655 per square foot. [more]

From left: Michael Fascitelli, CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, and Sherri White, senior vice president at Vornado, at the Marquee Nightclub at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel

It’s become a cliche to say much of the deal making at the annual International Council of Shopping Centers’ retail bash RECon in Las Vegas takes place at the parties surrounding the convention, even if it’s true. To get a closer look, The Real Deal visited a handful of those gabfests. Click here to see the photos and more.

Vornado Chairman Steven Roth, 220 Central Park South and Extell President Gary Barnett

Vornado Realty Trust’s plans for a luxury condominium along Central Park South are being stalled by rival developer Gary Barnett, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Extell Development CEO holds a lease for the ground-floor garage at 220 Central Park South, a building Vornado wants to demolish to make way for a 41-story new development, and is refusing to vacate the property. [more]

Vornado Realty Trust CEO Michael Fascitelli

The recession had “almost no impact” on Vornado Realty Trust’s cash flow, CEO Michael Fascitelli said in a video interview with REIT.com.

Fascitelli said the company focused on paying down $2 billion of debt and extending maturity of other obligations during the downturn to help maintain operating leeway and flexibility. [more]

From left: Vornado Chairman Steven Roth, City Investment Fund President Thomas Lydon and the Crowne Plaza hotel

Vornado Realty Trust said it helped to recapitalize the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square under a joint venture between the property owners and one of its real estate funds.

Vornado, based in Paramus, N.J., said it will manage and lease the 180,000-square-foot commercial space at the 795-room property, located at 1605 Broadway and 48th Street, while the partner of its real estate fund will asset manage the hotel. [more]

From top left: Broadway Partners CEO Scott Lawlor, Invesco CEO Martin Flanagan, and 280 Park Avenue

The value of New York City’s 25 largest commercial property sales increased 23 percent in 2011 to $12.27 billion and the median price per square-foot of an office building rose 18 percent to $696, according to Crain’s, but troubling signs lurked behind the impressive outlay.

Many of the largest deals of the year, including the $1.1 billion SL Green Realty and Vornado Realty Trust paid for 99 percent of 280 Park Avenue, were recapitalizations which bailed out troubled landlords. [more]

From left: HFZ Capital founder Ziel Feldman, Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth and 11 East 68th Street (building credit: PropertyShark)

HFZ Capital Group joined Vornado Realty Trust in its previously reported acquisition of 11 East 68th Street, and will take control of the 41 residential units while Vornado presides over the 100-foot-long Madison Avenue retail space, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In September, Vornado entered into contract to buy the Upper East Side rental building for $170 million, a $21.8 million discount on the amount the sellers, ABRO management, paid for it in 2008. [more]

Clockwise from top left: Cassidy Turley New York Tri-State’s Peter Hennessy, 330 Madison Avenue and Frank Doyle of JLLFinancial firm Guggenheim Partners has agreed to lease 186,000 square feet at 330 Madison Avenue for a rent in the $70s per square foot, the New York Observer reported. Guggenheim will move into the space when the lease for its approximately 140,000 square feet at 135 East 57th Street expires in 2013.

Vornado Realty Trust is the landlord at the 850,000-square-foot Madison Avenue tower, between 42nd and 43rd streets, and is spending more than $100 million to upgrade the building and secure a LEED Silver certification. [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: Jared Kushner of Kushner Companies, Vornado’s Steven Roth and 666 Fifth Avenue

Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies has completed a refinancing of its mammoth tower at 666 Fifth Avenue with Vornado Realty Trust, Bloomberg News reported. Vornado is injecting $80 million of equity into the project in return for a 49.5 percent stake in the tower, while Kushner will also contribute $30 million to the refinancing.

Under the agreement, the tower’s senior debt will be reduced to $1.1 billion from almost $1.22 billion, a source with knowledge of the deal told Bloomberg. The equity contributions will cover the costs of leasing the 30 percent of the building that’s currently vacant, the source said. [more]