SL Green pays $282M for land under Madison Avenue Armani

REIT already owned leasehold on the property in venture with Jeff Sutton and Stonehenge Partners

From left: Jeff Sutton, Paul Massey, Marc Holliday and 760 Madison Avenue
From left: Jeff Sutton, Paul Massey, Marc Holliday and 760 Madison Avenue

SL Green Realty paid $282.4 million for the land under a package of retail and residential buildings that it owns in partnership with Jeff Sutton and Stonehenge Partners, where luxury brand Armani is a tenant.

The purchase of the land under 760 Madison Avenue and 19-21 East 65th Street closed on July 21, city records show. The acquisition gives the city’s largest office landlord a freer hand to redevelop the site.

SL Green led by CEO Marc Holliday, retail investor Sutton and residential landlord Stonehenge Partners acquired the ground lease with about 70 years remaining on it for $14 million from long-time owner David Frankel as part of a large portfolio acquired for $416 million. But the land was owned by a company called Weatherley 65th Street. Representatives from SL Green, Sutton and Stonehenge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The transaction was finalized just days before the real estate investment trust announced last week that it had sold $656 million worth of properties, netting the company $240 million in cash, although the bulk of those transactions have not yet closed.

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Armani occupies the 16,468-square foot retail building at 760 Madison for a lease that runs though 2025, while Stonehenge is renting out the residential portion of the 65th Street properties called Stonehenge Mews 65th.

The existing buildings are a total of 40,078 square feet including 18 residential units and seven commercial spaces, but has more than 49,293 square feet in excess development rights.

The sellers were represented by a team of Massey Knakal brokers including CEO Paul Massey and Guthrie Garvin, Michael Gembecki and Tyler Hughes.