SL Green and Jeff Sutton add to large Times Square retail site

The Midtown-based real estate investment trust SL Green Realty and partner Jeff Sutton purchased a small, mid-block Office Building On 46th Street which they plan to demolish in order to expand the selling area at a large retail project they are developing in Times Square.

Sutton, president of Wharton Properties, and SL Green are 50-50 partners in the purchase of 155 West 46th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, a source familiar with the acquisition said. The $8.38 million sale by Simplon Hosiery Mills went into contract April 5 and closed May 23, city property records recorded today show.

The modest purchase figures into the larger repositioning of the landmarked four-story I. Miller Building at 1552 Broadway, which will be combined with the lower floors of the neighboring office building at 1560 Broadway. Those buildings are adjacent to the newly acquired structure.

Last Thursday, SL Green filed plans with the city’s Department of Buildings to demolish the narrow, 20-foot wide building they just purchased, agency records show. The source said a new structure would be built on that plot of land to increase the retail space closer to Broadway, because the properties are connected. The new building can be up to 28,112 square feet in size, information from PropertyShark.com shows.

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that SL Green and Sutton had landed clothing retailer Express as a tenant for the retail at 1552 Broadway and 1560 Broadway.

Wharton Properties, SL Green and Simplon Hosiery did not respond to requests for comment.