SL Green Sheds Tarrytown Properties for $48M

TARRYTOWN, NY-SL Green Realty Corp. has sold 100 and 120 White Plains Rd. here for $48 million to locally based Juster Development. The two properties were part of the one-million-square-foot, eight-building portfolio of Westchester County office buildings which SL Green put on the market last November.

Also known as the Christiana Building, the six-story, 205,000-square-foot, 120 White Plains was developed in 1984 and renovated a few years ago. Originally a residential building constructed in 1927, 100 White Plains contains 6,000 square feet on four stories.

“The final results of the sale demonstrate the fact that strong pricing is still achievable for good quality, well-located assets,” says Andrew Merin, vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets group, in a release. “In a real estate market where there is simply not an abundance of class-A product available for purchase, the buyer seized the opportunity available.”

Merin, together with all of C&W’s capital markets group; C&W EVPs David Bernhaut and Gary Gabriel; and executive director Jose Cruz, represented the seller along with C&W’s Glenn Walsh and Tom O’Leary. Walsh and O’Leary are senior directors in C&W’s Westchester/Fairfield region.

Cruz notes in the release that after many years of “strong leasing activity” at the two properties, “SL Green was able to realize a solid return in what has been a challenging market. Juster Development is an exceptionally well-capitalized private investor and is distinguished by its credibility, strength and performance.” In the release, Walsh notes that 120 White Plains in particular “has enjoyed significant leasing momentum, which was a major appeal to potential investors.”

In a statement, Steve Kohn, president and principal of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman, comments, “Although the credit markets are challenging, strong sponsors and high quality assets still attract capital.” Kohn, along with Alexander Hernandez and Chris Moyer, C&WSG senior director and analyst, respectively, arranged the $28-million acquisition financing.

In putting the eight-building portfolio of Tarrytown and Valhalla properties on the market last year, SL Green sought to exit the two local office markets, GlobeSt.com reported last year. These properties were part of SL Green’s $6-billion acquisition of the majority of the former Reckson REIT. When asked why it was shedding the Tarrytown and Valhalla properties, an SL Green source told GlobeSt.com last year that “the company’s primary focus in Westchester County and Connecticut is on optimizing its investments in office properties that are concentrated around major downtown transit hubs. This is consistent with the way SL Green’s core New York City portfolio has been assembled.”