SL Green eyes street-level revamp at 245 Park

Manhattan’s largest commercial landlord looking to boost office tower

<p>A photo illustration of SL Green&#8217;s Marc Holliday along with 245 Park Avenue (Getty, Google Maps)</p>

A photo illustration of SL Green’s Marc Holliday along with 245 Park Avenue (Getty, Google Maps)

Manhattan’s largest commercial landlord is proposing a redesign to the outdoor plaza of its Park Avenue office building.

Robert DeWitt, senior vice president of construction at SL Green, filed a rezoning application with the Department of City Planning to update the “bare” plaza around the tower at 245 Park Avenue, Crain’s New York reported.  

The real estate firm is proposing to add 31 trees and additional seating, along with addressing grade differences in an effort to make the outdoor space “livelier and more inviting,” according to the application. The project would also replace windows and update the building’s lobby and elevator cabs. 

The application does not include a proposed timeline or cost for construction. 

Built in 1966, the more than 81,000-square-foot office tower and its 19,100-square-foot plaza is bounded by Park and Lexington avenues and East 46th and 47th streets. 

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

SL Green last year sold 50 percent of the equity in the 1.7 million-square-foot tower to Japanese developer Mori Trust in a deal that valued the tower at $2 billion. The owner acquired the property in 2022 through a bankruptcy auction.  

Read more

SL Green, Vornado Gin Up $100M to Extend 280 Park Loan
Commercial
New York
SL Green, Vornado kick in $100M to extend 280 Park loan
Davis Polk, Paul Weiss Nab Largest Office Leases of 2023
Commercial
New York
Is the “doom loop” in commercial real estate real?
Howden Tiger Expands at SL Green’s 1350 Sixth Avenue
Commercial
New York
Insurance broker expands at SL Green’s 1350 Sixth Avenue

The building hit an occupancy rate of 92.5 percent, thanks to a new lease agreement with hedge fund Veritant Group, which took over 72,500 square feet of office space for 10 years, SL Green announced Monday.  

However, the tower has a 64 percent retail vacancy rate as the market continues its battle for stabilization following the pandemic. Two of the building’s four retail spaces stand vacant, including a 10,000-square-foot unit at the corner of 47th Street and Lexington Avenue, which hasn’t seen an occupant in over a decade.

Caroline Handel 

Recommended For You