SL Green, Mack-Cali Trade Properties

NEW YORK CITY-Edison, NJ-based Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has purchased SL Green Realty Corp.’s condominium interest at 125 Broad St. for $273 million. At the same time, Mack-Cali sold 500 W. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich, CT to SL Green for $56 million.

The building at 125 Broad St. is almost 40% condominium units, with the majority of the 40-story space serving as office. SL Green purchased the condominium interest, which consists of floors two through 16, in 2002 for $90 million or $172 per sf. Mack-Cali takes the condo interest for $520 per sf. The financial district building is fully occupied.

“The sale of our interests in 125 Broad is consistent with our 2007 disposition plan. Following the acquisition of Reckson Associates, we indicated that we expect to sell as much as $1 billion of our existing portfolio this year,” says SL Green CIO Andrew Mathias, in a statement. “This is our fourth sale so far, and we are identifying other non-core holdings that will provide opportunity to harvest gains, while maintaining our Manhattan office market leadership position. At the same time, the sales proceeds from 125 Broad will be reinvested in a tax efficient manner into the recently acquired Reckson portfolio.”

The 125 Broad St. purchase marks the Mack-Cali’s first foray into the Manhattan market. Company executives hope to expand the firm’s presence in New York City to compliment its significant holdings in Jersey City. During the days before SL Green closed on the merger with Reckson, Mack-Cali teamed with Harry Macklowe and Carl Icahn and offered a higher competing bid to acquire Reckson. The bid fell through with both Macklowe and Mack-Cali pulling out; and Macklowe ended up strengthening its Manhattan portfolio a month later with the $7-billion purchase of several Equity Office Property buildings.

Now it is Mack-Cali’s turn. “We’re very excited about this breakthrough acquisition in Manhattan,” says Mitchell Hersh, president and CEO of Mack-Cali, in a statement. “125 Broad is an outstanding property with a first-class tenant base. It provides us with a starting point from which we can increase our presence and take advantage of a market that has been improving rapidly and still has substantial upside potential.”

In a separate but related transaction, Mack-Cali has sold the four-story, 121,500-sf office building at 500 W. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich. Mack-Cali purchased the property in 1998 for $17.8 million.

SL Green picks up the 96% occupied building and tenants like JP Morgan Chase and McMahan Securities with the $460-per-sf transaction. When the Reckson, SL Green merger closed earlier this year, SL Green picked up nine properties in Connecticut and an additional 15 assets in the neighboring Westchester County, NY. Since then, the company has acquired two additional properties in the area, as reported by GlobeSt.com.

“We’re pleased to add to our Connecticut holdings with the strategic acquisition of 500 West Putnam, a superior property with additional potential in the supply constrained, highly desirable town of Greenwich,” says Isaac Zion, managing director at SL Green. “We’ll continue to seek opportunities in this marketplace to further strengthen our presence in the region.”