17 Battery Place North Trades for $70M

NEW YORK CITY-An affiliate of the Moinian Group contracted to purchase the 422,424-sf 17 Battery Place North from SL Green Realty Group for $70 million or $170 per sf. The office building at 17 Battery Place South was sold in September 2000 to an affiliate of the Moinian Group for $53 million making a total sale price of $123 million for both Battery Place North and South.

“There was very competitive bidding,” says Cushman & Wakefield’s Ron Cohen, who acted as the sole financial advisor with colleagues Richard Baxter, Jon Caplan, Scott Latham and Heather Brownfeld. He notes that Moinian prevailed due to a number of factors including its familiarity with the property. The deal has a 7% cap rate and there are a number of long-term leases in the building to tenants including the City of New York. “They’re [Moinian] in it for the long term.”

SL Green expects to recognize a gain of approximately $26 million from the sale of the financial district asset, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter. According to SL Green officials, as with the recently announced sale of 1466 Broadway, substantially all resulting taxable income will be deferred through a reverse-1031 exchange into 750 Third Ave., which was acquired by the firm in July.

So far this year, SL Green has racked up a sales volume of $469 million when combined with the sales of 1466 Broadway and One Park Avenue. Proceeds and the approximate $127 million of gains generated have been redeployed or are available for redeployment into new investments and to pay down corporate debt. “The transaction allows us to realize a substantial gain on a mature asset and to redeploy these profits into value-added opportunities,” points out SL Green CIO Andrew Mathias.

Constructed in 1972 at the intersection of Battery Place and West Street, the 22-story office overlooks Battery Park and the New York Harbor. SL Green originally purchased condominium interests in 17 Battery Place North and South for $59 million around the time its IPO.