Five Madison Ave., or North Tower as it is sometimes called, is a 41-story, 267,000-sf office building. SL Green purchased the building in 2005 as part of a deal that gave the firm the South Tower, a 1.2-million-sf building, as well as 400,000 sf of air rights. Originally Credit Suisse was a partner in the deal, but later its stake was purchased by RFR Holdings and Ian Schrager. Originally the partners planned to turn this North Tower into a luxury residential building.

"We've always been very excited about the potential of the North Building as a luxury residential property," Marc Holliday, SL Green CEO says, in a statement. "But given its unique characteristics and the incredibly strong market demand for well-located and well-constructed real estate in Manhattan, we received many attractive offers. In the end the partnership couldn't ignore the opportunity to realize a substantial gain. The transaction provides our shareholders with a strong return on investment and allows us to direct resources to other initiatives."

Africa Israel will pursue the redevelopment plans on the North Tower. "We look forward to seeing Africa Israel bring the redevelopment project to fruition in such way that New Yorkers will continue to view the 'Clock Tower' as one of the city's true architectural gems," Holliday says.

This purchase is Africa Israel's second in less than three weeks. The firm also purchased the current New York Times building at 229 W. 43rd St. for $525 million. The 746,000-sf facility is said to need roughly $170 million worth of renovations. That project will begin once the NYT completes the move to its new headquarters at 620 Eighth Ave.