$280M Mortgage for FiDi Office Through SL Green, Moinian JV

November 15, 2011
By Nicholas Ziegler, News Editor

The capital keeps pouring into Downtown Manhattan. Yesterday, a joint venture of SL Green and The Moinian Group announced they have recapitalized 180 Maiden Lane, a fully leased, 1.1 million-square-foot Class A office tower on New York’s waterfront.

“This former 9-to-5 area has become a magnet for the city’s economic growth,” Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green, said. His firm has been moving beyond the Midtown market to become a strategic redeveloper and owner of Downtown properties in the last few years, including the repositioning of 100 Church St. – nearly doubling the occupancy rate to its current level of 82 percent in nearly two years – and the current ownership of 388-390 Greenwich St.,. corporate headquarters to Citigroup.

The recapitalization values the property at an unlevered cap rate of 7.1 percent, or $390 per square foot.  SL Green’s consideration for its 49.9 percent stake in the joint venture included $41 million in cash and operating partnership units valued at $31.7 million.  Simultaneous with the closing of the recapitalization, the venture refinanced the existing $344.2 million indebtedness with a five-year $280-million mortgage with Bank of China and CIBC.

Law firm Morrison & Forester represented CIBC on the deal. “We’re thrilled to be at the center of yet another major financing for a trophy New York project,” Mark Edelstein, chair of the firm’s real estate finance group, said. “The New York market has been among the most active in the U.S. this year for large-scale development and financing.”

The 41-story office tower, constructed in 1984, is the corporate headquarters to American International Group and its Chartis insurance subsidiary, as well as the law firm of Stroock Stroock and Lavan.

SL Green has been busy of late. At the end of October, the firm sold 292 Madison Ave. for $82 million and, in the beginning of the month, established a joint venture with Stonehenge Partners to buy eight retail assets and 402 multi-family units for $416 million.