Building owner SL Green negotiated with Loews to enable AEG tohave access to the site 17 months before the movie theatre's leaseexpired. SL Green COO Gerry Nocera tells GlobeSt.com that it wasimportant for the company to find a tenant for the site who wouldunderstand that it the development is topped by a 54-story 1.8million sf office tower. "There was a lot of interest in the site,"he says. "It's an exciting, adaptive reuse for this below-gradelevel space." The tower is home base for Viacom Inc., the MTVStudios and the Minksoff Theatre.

James Kuhn, president of Newmark, represented AEG, along withBrian Waterman and Lance Korman. SL Green's SVP and director ofleasing Steven Durels structured the transaction.

According to Nocera, the site will be redesigned by the RockwellGroup into a high-end, state-of-the-art live entertainment venuewith seating capacity for 2,100. Other AEG events include "CelineDion: A New Day," and national concert tours for the likes ofPrince, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Justin Timberlake and ChristinaAguilera, Dixie Chicks, American Idol and Rod Stewart.