SL Green pays $18M to buy air rights for FiDi resi tower

The city’s largest office landlord just acquired air rights for its planned 35-story, ground-up apartment tower in the Financial District.

SL Green Realty paid $17.7 million to buy the development rights over the Fulton Street subway station entrance at 189 Broadway, according to documents filed with the city today. It’s unclear how much square footage was included in the transaction. However, the seller, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, released a request for proposals to sell 62,750 square feet of unused air rights at the site in June of last year.

SL Green’s property, with the address of 185 Broadway, is the future site of a 279-unit mixed-use building with about 165,000 square feet for apartments and 37,000 square feet of commercial space. If approved as proposed, the building would rise 404 feet. SL Green also plans to have retail spaces from the cellar to the second floor and a health club between the third and fifth floors. The project, its first ground-up residential development, would occupy the parcels at 183 and 187 Broadway and 5-7 Dey Street. The three buildings on the lots were demolished last year.

The air rights covered in the transaction appears to already be included in SL Green’s plans for the site. Previous reports outlined that development rights from the MTA would allow SL Green to construct a building that’s approximately 200,000 square feet in size. SL Green’s permit application from last August outlined plans for a 201,800-square-foot building.

SL Green bought 183 Broadway for $28.5 million in 2016. The other two properties were purchased for $63.7 million the year prior. SL Green also reportedly approached the owners of the office properties next door at 179 and 181 Broadway for a possible acquisition. The firm declined to comment.