After taking control of 1231 Third Avenue from Thor Equities this summer, SL Green Realty is selling the property and an assemblage down the street.
The real estate investment trust has gone into contract to sell its fee interest in 1231 Third Avenue and 31,000 square feet of development rights, as well as an assemblage at 252-254, 257, 259 and 260 East 72nd Street for a total of $144 million. The buyer’s identity was not immediately clear.
Thor Equities purchased 1231 Third Avenue for $52.5 million in 2013 but sold its ownership of the property to SL Green in July for $60 million after falling into default. SL Green had a mezzanine loan against the building. The four-story property spans about 41,000 square feet and contains 20 occupied apartments and roughly 16,000 square feet of retail space, which is 70 percent occupied.
SL Green has been selling off several properties lately, which comes as the firm embarks on a $2 billion stock buyback program. It went in contract in March to sell the office portion of 1745 Broadway in Midtown to an unnamed Invesco client for $633 million, and it sold 175-225 3rd Street in Gowanus to Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty for $115 million in April.
The firm is also constructing the office tower One Vanderbilt, where the Carlyle Group has signed a lease. SL Green had committed to taking over the Carlyle Group’s lease at Tishman Speyer’s 520 Madison Avenue as part of the deal, but landlord Tishman Speyer has so far refused to let the REIT move in.