SL Green snaps up Ashkenazy’s 690 Madison through foreclosure

SL Green Realty has gained control of Ashkenazy Acquisition’s 690 Madison Avenue for what appears to be a discount.

The major Manhattan landlord paid transfer taxes on about $74 million, just under 65 percent of what Ashkenazy paid for the property in 2015, according to property records. PincusCo first reported the transaction, but did not specify a price tag.

SL Green in September held a UCC foreclosure auction of an Ashkenazy entity that owns the five-story building at East 62nd Street, whose retail tenants include Hermès. SL Green was a sponsor of a mezzanine loan for the Ashkenazy entity, with an outstanding balance of about $3.85 million.

The mixed-use, 7,850-square-foot building also had a $72 million senior mortgage issued by Bank of China, according to property records.

In other words, SL Green gained control of the building by paying a few million dollars more than Ashkenazy’s senior mortgage, even though it cost the New York-based real estate investment firm $115.2 million to buy the building in 2015.

Ashkenazy did not immediately return a request for comment. SL Green declined a request for comment.

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Owners of once-prime retail properties in Manhattan have taken a hit in the pandemic.

Vornado Realty Trust in August agreed to sell its five struggling retail properties in Soho and the Upper East Side for $184.5 million, about half the price those properties collectively commanded when the REIT acquired them between 2004 and 2006.

Brookfield Property Partners was reported in early September to be selling its block-long retail condo at 530 Fifth Avenue for around $190 million — roughly a third less than the $295 million it paid for the property near the height of the market in 2014.