SL Green Realty, Manhattan’s largest office landlord, has promoted Harrison Sitomer to president, adding to his existing role as chief investment officer.
The move comes as SL Green is seeking to sell $2.5 billion in assets while undertaking some $7 billion in total refinancings. Sitomer has also been busy helping the company attract investor capital from both domestic and overseas sources.
Sitomer, 36, began his career at SL Green as an intern and joined the team full time in 2012 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. He was named investment chief in 2022.
Sitomer has “played a critical role in strengthening” SL Green’s capital platform and expanding its business lines, the real estate investment trust said Monday in a statement. Sitomer also started SL Green’s $1.3 billion debt fund while expanding its commercial mortgage servicing and asset management businesses.
The promotion follows the departure of SL Green’s longtime president, Andrew Mathias, at the end of 2023. Since then, Chairman and Chief Executive Marc Holliday has served as president on an interim basis.
“Harry exemplifies the dedication, tenacity and strength that define SL Green,” Holliday said in the statement, adding that the promotion signals the company’s “commitment to growing talent from within.” “His entire career has been shaped here, and his commitment to our culture, our stakeholders and our city is unwavering.”
The company also extended the contracts of Chief Financial Officer Matthew DiLiberto and Chief Operating Officer Edward Piccinich through the end of 2028. The titles of president and operating chief have always been separate at SL Green, a spokesperson told CoStar News.
SL Green said Monday it completed the $54.4 million sale of 690 Madison Ave. with its joint venture partner, Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties. The buyer wasn’t disclosed. The five-story, 7,850-square-foot commercial building at East 62nd Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is fully leased to Richemont-owned luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, and Richemont is said to be the buyer. SL Green declined to comment.
The deal “underscores the continued trend of significant demand for flagship locations occupied by high-end retail users along Manhattan’s finest retail corridors,” Sitomer said.
Manhattan office leasing rose last year to its highest volume since at least 2019, and SL Green said demand shows little sign of easing. In the first two months of this year, the REIT signed 32 Manhattan office leases totaling 491,098 square feet. Highlights included a large global investment firm inking a new 10-year lease for 150,036 square feet on the entire 23rd through 26th floors at 245 Park Ave. in an expansion.
For the record
Gary Phillips and Will Silverman of Eastdil advised on the sale of 690 Madison.
The tenant in the 245 Park lease was represented by Evan Margolin, Joseph Messina, Gregory Lubar, Steve Spartin and Jessica Berkey at JLL. The landlord was represented by Bruce Mosler, Harry Blair, Ron LoRusso, Justin Royce and Pierce Hance of Cushman & Wakefield.