Travelers Stays Put on Lexington Ave.

NEW YORK CITY-SL Green Realty Corp. said Monday it had signed Travelers Indemnity Co. to a renewal at 485 Lexington Ave., where it has had offices since 2006. A sokesman for SL Green tells GlobeSt.com the 178,024-square-foot renewal runs for five years.

The renewal of one of the REIT's largest 485 Lexington tenants is among the highlights of what to date has been a busy second quarter. As previously reported on GlobeSt.com last month, management firm Blue Mountain Capital and consulting firm Promontory Financial Group LLC each took a floor of 49,541 square feet at the 43-story 280 Park Ave. In all, SL Green has leased 441,651 square feet since the current quarter began on April 1. 

“Improved leasing velocity that started in the fourth quarter of 2012 has continued forward through the second quarter of 2013,” Steven Durels, SL Green's director of leasing and real property, says in a release. “We're seeing strong demand across all submarkets and all price points with a significant number of tenant expansions.”

Robert Ageloff of Jones Lang LaSalle acted on behalf of Travelers in its renewal. The JLL leasing team of Paul Glickman, Mitti Liebersohn, Diana Biasotti and David Kleiner represented the 900,000-square-foot office tower's ownership. Travelers Indemnity also occupies space at SL Green's 2 Jericho Plaza in Jericho, NY.

Also known as Grand Central Square, 485 Lexington recently completed a major capital improvement program, including a new lobby, entryway, windows, elevators, corridors and façade. Other major tenants there include Citigroup, Fairchild Publications and, most recently, Xerox Corp., which reportedly subleased about 100,000 square feet from Citigroup this past summer and added 14,000 square feet in a sublease from Novantas LLC in April.