SL Green Realty is once again looking to its loan book to raise some cash.
The REIT is looking to sell a $100 million mezzanine loan on the massive One Court Square office building in Long Island City, according to marketing materials.
It’s the latest loan SL Green is looking to sell at a time when few properties are trading. The market for buildings and other hard assets has ground to a virtual halt since the start of the coronavirus, but investors are still buying and selling notes.
Read more
Commercial
New York
SL Green preparing $1B coronavirus cushion
Commercial
New York
NYC i-sales slashed in half by coronavirus
Commercial
New York
SL Green continues to unload assets to create cash buffer
The company in March temporarily suspended its stock buyback program as panic over the pandemic set in, and a deal to sell the Daily News Building for $815 million fell through. The company then came up with a plan to raise $1 billion — much of it through loan sales — and announced it would resume repurchasing its own stock in June.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment..
The One Court Square loan carries an interest rate of 8.5 percent and matures in 2023, with an option to extend another two years, marketing materials show. A Cushman & Wakefield team of Adam Spies, Doug Harmon, Kevin Donner, Josh King, Adam Doneger and Marcella Fusulo is marketing the debt.
SL Green had previously owned the 1.5 million-square-foot One Court Square, which it sold in 2011 to investor David Werner and Waterbridge Capital for $500 million.
Current owner Savanna picked up a controlling interest three years later in the property, which it owns with JPMorgan affiliate Junius Real Estate Partners. The tower had previously been known as the Citigroup Building for its one-time namesake tenant. But the bank’s lease expired this year, and the owners recently removed its name from the top of the tower.
Savanna had planned to lease a large chunk of Citi’s vacancy to Amazon, but the deal fell through when the tech giant backed out of its plan to open part of its second headquarters in New York City. The owners have since signed leases with the healthcare manager Centene Corp. and telecom giant Altice, which will have its moniker adorn the top of the tower.
In recent months, SL Green has put numerous loans up for sale and thought to be in talks with several buyers on those deals.
The company in May sold a $100 million loan on a Manhattan condo project to the U.K. billionaire Reuben brothers.
Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229.