SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE:
SLG) has closed on the acquisition of two adjacent properties located at 635 and 641 Sixth Ave. in New York City for a total of $173 million, or about $648 per square foot, from Atlas Capital Group LLC.
The two adjoining properties were originally built in 1902 as a contiguous department store on Manhattan's famed Avenue of the Americas in Chelsea, between West 19th and 20th Streets. Atlas acquired 641 Sixth Ave. in 2007, and had recently agreed to acquire 635 Sixth Ave to complete the full block-front assemblage.
635 Sixth Ave. is now a 104,000-square-foot building recently vacated by Apex Technical School. At one time the building contained nine stories of garage and car repair use. 641 Sixth Ave. totals 163,000 square feet of fully-renovated, multi-tenant
office space currently home to leading technology firms Google and Infor. The two buildings offer a combined 47,000 square feet of ground-floor retail with 184 linear feet along a vibrant retail corridor. While occupancy at 641 Sixth Ave. is currently 100 percent, the buyer plans to redevelop and reposition 635 Sixth Ave. with a significant infusion of capital to support high-quality tenancy in the Midtown South submarket.
Isaac Zion, co-chief investment officer at SL Green added, "One of our stated goals in 2012 was to expand our presence in Midtown South, the hottest office submarket in New York with a current vacancy rate below five percent, and this latest transaction further demonstrates our continuing belief in the strength and vitality of the expanding creative, media, and technology sectors." SL Green Realty Corp. is New York City's largest office landlord and its only fully-integrated REIT focusing primarily on acquiring and managing commercial properties in Manhattan.
Robert Martin with Jones Lang LaSalle advised the seller and was sole broker on the sale.
Please see CoStar COMPS #2566375 for additional information on this transaction.