NEW YORK | 245 Park Avenue | Renovation

[NYguy]

Here’s hoping we at least get a new facade on this eyesore…


https://nypost.com/2022/09/11/sl-gre...hina-firm/amp/

SL Green takes control of Park Ave. office tower from bankrupt China firm

By Steve Cuozzo
September 11, 2022

Pressing its campaign to establish a formidable East Midtown core, SL Green added another trophy to its burgeoning portfolio. The city’s largest commercial landlord purchased 245 Park Avenue out of bankruptcy in a deal that closed on Friday.

SL Green’s unexpected, 100% acquisition of the 48-story, 1.8 million square-foot office tower climaxed a grueling battle with the tower’s distressed former owner HNA, an affiliate of China’s PWM Property Management.

Buoyed by a revitalized Park Avenue-area leasing market, publicly traded SL Green, which developed One Vanderbilt, is on an East Side roll. It’s a joint-venture partner with Vornado in 280 Park Ave. and recently bought 450 Park Ave. for $455 million. It is meanwhile re-developing One Madison Avenue where IBM signed a huge lease. Last week, it sold more than half of the Lipstick Building’s office floors to Memorial Sloan-Kettering for about $300 million.

Chief executive Marc Holliday said that 245 Park will immediately begin a repositioning and upgrading. The plan includes new lobbies on the tower’s Park and Lexington avenue sides, a re-designed public plaza, infrastructure advances, new retail storefronts and tenants’ amenities such as fitness and wellness centers and food services curated by Daniel Boulud’s Dinex company.

KPF architects will assist on the redesign.

A key part will be to re-imagine the Park Avenue-side plaza so as to better integrate it into other pedestrian-friendly changes planned in the corridor.

What’s more, the tower “has an extraordinary rooftop that isn’t much utilized,” Holliday said. “The great views it provides might become open to the public — not like Summit [at the top of One Vanderbilt], but like a park in the sky.”

[Busy Bee]

Yeah this could look a hell of a lot better with a 666 Fifth exterior updating.

[NYguy]

Short of a complete rebuild, it’s the best we could hope for.








https://www.loopnet.com/listingnotfound/25864498/

[Busy Bee]

Maybe the structure could handle some additional floors? Surely they will.have engineers at least explore that possibility.

[JMKeynes]

Unfortunately, there's no mention of a new facade. This is one of the worst towers on Park and desperately needs a new facade.

[NYguy]

Well, SL Green has a pretty good idea of what ut needs to succeed there. If that facade is the best they can do, then maybe there are other long term plans for it. Meanwhile, it sounds like plans are just beginning.



https://commercialobserver.com/2022/...5-park-avenue/

”245 Park Avenue is perfectly suited for our portfolio, strengthening our dominant presence in the Grand Central/Park Avenue submarket with one of the best buildings on Park Avenue,” said Harrison Sitomer, SL Green’s chief investment officer. “The property represents the next major development project for SL Green following the extraordinary success of One Vanderbilt Avenue and completion of One Madison Avenue that continues to be on-budget and on-time for delivery in November 2023.

And also, from the Post article…

….the tower “has an extraordinary rooftop that isn’t much utilized,” Holliday said. “The great views it provides might become open to the public — not like Summit [at the top of One Vanderbilt], but like a park in the sky.”

And just how are we getting to this park in the sky? Details!

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Maybe the structure could handle some additional floors? Surely they will.have engineers at least explore that possibility.

Under rezoning, it now has a FAR of 27, and up to 30 by special permit. Although its closer to 28 or 29.

[TonyNYC]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Under rezoning, it now has a FAR of 27, and up to 30 by special permit. Although its closer to 28 or 29.

Sl Green should tear this tower down and build another 1,400-1,500 FT or higher tower here.. it would be awesome!

EAST SIDE... STRONG SIDE!

[NYguy]

A little discussion on the SL Green plans...


https://seekingalpha.com/article/454...all-transcript

SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript


Oct. 20, 2022

Marc Holliday

.....Before opening up the line for questions, I want to acknowledge a few other milestone moments for the company. First, Summit One Vanderbilt is celebrating its one year anniversary tomorrow. We will all be there to recognize the successful launch of this world-class attraction that has quickly become one of New York's hottest experiences, having welcomed 1.4 million guests to summit during the first year of operation with far more expected next year.

During the third quarter, we prevailed in consolidating ownership and control of 245 Park Avenue, a trophy asset in the SL Green corridor of owned properties after a contentious bankruptcy litigation. We have plans to improve 245 Park over the next 24 months to make it one of the most desirable buildings on Park Avenue. Last week, we received the excellent news that Le Pavillon received a Michelin star less than 18 months after opening during the pandemic.

Alexander Goldfarb

Good afternoon. So two questions. First, just taking a look at bringing on converting the DPE positions for 5 Times Square and 245 Park, just want to understand one, the earnings impact. Because I think you were getting close to 11% on the DPE positions previously, and I'm not sure how that equates to a cap rate on the buildings. Two, I think you have some large vacancies coming in 245 Park. So maybe Matt, if you could just talk about how we should think about the economics in impact to earnings from converting those two positions?

Matt DiLiberto

Sure. I'll let Steve address the 245 Park vacancy question you had. As the earnings, obviously we'll be giving guidance for 2023 on December 5 at our investor conference, so you'll get more detail then. You alluded to the DPE balances rolling off that's about $367 million of debt and preferred equity investments combined between 245 and 5 Times that we're rolling off at just short of 11%. You're right, the properties do not generate that equivalent return on their phase five times is in redevelopment and lease up. We only own 30% – 32% roughly of that. And 245 we own a 100% of. There will be finalization of GAAP adjustments and those types of things done over the coming weeks leading into our guidance for 2023. But the roll off is substantial at $367 million a year, 11%.

Steve Durels

And then with regards to vacancy or pending vacancy at the building, we really don't have as much as, I think, you may suspect. The JPMorgan space, which is 17 floors in the building, 15 of those floors were either previously leased to SocGen or while we were doing the leasing for HNA, we had pre let five of the floors to Houlihan Lokey. So that only leaves us two floors to really deal with when we get that space back late next year.

Other than that, there is about 120,000 square feet of current vacancy. There is another block in the building that we get back – late this year – I'm sorry, late next year, Major League Baseball, which had roughly five floors. We had pre-leased most of that space on short term leases to either Rockefeller Group or Houlihan Lokey. So we'll now get it back mid to end of next year.

Other than that, there is a smattering of floors throughout the building. And that sort of roll over the next couple years is what's justifying the capital program that we're in design for the building right now, which we're really excited about. Just to remind everybody, this product is exactly what the world is looking for today. It's side core design has a floor plate design that has actually six corners on it. The way it's configured sits directly catty-cornered to JPMorgan's new headquarters, has direct access to Grand Central Terminal.

Our development plan, which is going to be a spectacular transformation of the building from the plaza, to the lobby, to amenities being added is, I think, a very forward-thinking. And we're already trading paper with prospective tenants. So, I have the greatest confidence that this building will outperform.

John Kim

Thank you. You guys talked about the improvement you could make at 245 Park over the next couple of years and the former owner was capital constrained. So I was wondering if you can comment on how much CapEx will be needed to upgrade the building? And also, if you can comment on the timing of finding a joint venture partner.

Marc Holliday

I would say, needed is – there’s a lot you can work into what’s needed at the property. I mean, the property leases in its current state. And we’ve done actually a lot of lease and how much, Steve?

Steve Durels

Probably 200,000-plus square feet.

Marc Holliday

Yes. We’ve done about 200,000 square feet plus. The building is a very good building. But – and I don’t think needs for much. However, what to bring it up to where we want it to be to its full potential and be consistent with some of the great properties within the portfolio that have extensive amenities, et cetera, we’re going to go in sort of electively and voluntarily, I would expect any program of size to be under $100 a foot. So I don’t mean that to sound de minimis. It’s a big building. That’s up to 1.8 million square foot building. And that’s the beauty of the situation here is we can amortize some substantial improvement dollars over a very large asset and for relatively, I’ll call it, modest incremental investment per square foot.

We can take our already low basis for our Park Avenue asset of, I think, about $1,100 a foot, if I’m not mistaken, maybe even slightly under that. And like I said, make a very large dollar amount, but a small relative per square foot improvement amount for improvements, beautification, efficiencies, new lobby, plaza, amenities and still have a basis very low by Park Avenue standards, and I think have one of the best buildings with one of the best views sitting right on top of access to Grand Central Station. Thanks.

John Kim

And the timing of a JV partner?

Marc Holliday

The – well, I mean, we’re looking. I mean, we’ll begin those conversations in this quarter. And that will – that’s one of our priorities for – will be one of our priorities for 2023 will be identification and closing of a JV partner. But we, I guess, already have begun fielding inbound and will be sort of proactively marketing outbound this quarter.

[NOPA]

So one of the selling points is that it’s close to the JP Morgan tower? I guess so tenants can look at it from across the street and see what they are missing out on?

This should be a tear down, it’s ugly and dumpy.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NOPA

So one of the selling points is that it’s close to the JP Morgan tower? I guess so tenants can look at it from across the street and see what they are missing out on?

This should be a tear down, it’s ugly and dumpy.

Lol. It’s like, “you may not be working in that shiny new tower across the street, but we can give you a damn sweet view of it.”

[NYguy]

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

[NYguy]

https://www.zonebourse.com/amp/cours...Call-42481379/

Transcript : SL Green Realty Corp. - Special Call

Presenter Speech
Harrison Sitomer

.....that focus on growth this year has been narrowly targeted towards acquiring premier, well-located office assets on Park Avenue that are highly sought after by tenants, attractive to international LPs and importantly, priced at a discount to pre-COVID trade.

So why are we so focused on the Park Avenue Spine. First, this has been and continues to be in the center of our backyard. Second, it's where everyone wants to be. Park Avenue's recognition as the premier commercial submarket was further enhanced this year with the ongoing development of JPMorgan's 2.3 million square foot headquarters at 270 Park, Blackstone's lease extension at 345 Park and the nearly completed deal with a major financial institution at 350 Park. And with the city of options, why are we all choosing Park? Look, first, the most important amenity and neighborhood has to offer, its restaurants. You will recognize a few of our well-known spots, including Joji Sushi, Michelin [ Starleaf and Fasano ]. Further, the neighborhood offers residences, social clubs and hotels like the [ Aman ] and 432 Park. No other market offers a suite of amenities like this for New York City's business community.

And our portfolio continues to benefit from these well-established offerings, and we are proud to announce 2 additions to this portfolio this year at 450 Park and 245 Park.

.....We've been jocking to control 245 for over 5 years now. The building features blue chip investment-grade tenants is a super block adjacent to Grand Central with direct connectivity and it's across the street from JPMorgan's headquarters. Additionally, the building provides an incredible repositioning opportunity with 30% vacancy that is well suited for enhancement. Let me take you guys through the time line of this deal.

245 Park came on the market in 2016. The asset traded to HNA for a price above where we identified value. However, we did see an opportunity for our DPE program and originated $55 million of mezzanine financing demonstrating our commitment to seeking the best risk-adjusted return. A year after closing with our foot in the door through that loan and HNA's financial distress back in China, HNA thought us out to provide them $185 million pref equity investment, which was over $400 million inside of their basis.

Knowing this could potentially be headed into problems down the road, we made the investment with full legal protections guarantees and day-to-day management authority. Despite HMA's continued management roadblocks, we were still able to get close to 500,000 square feet in leasing done at the building. A testament to Ed, Megan, Steve and their teams as well as the quality of the real estate and the location. But all the success of the building couldn't prevent HNA from getting out of their own way and escaping their corporate problems and following almost all of their assets worldwide into bankruptcy, including 245.

Feeling confident that we would ultimately prevail in acquiring the asset out of the bankruptcy, our biggest focus is we're protecting the collateral from HNA, expediting the process to keep costs down and reinstating the attractive 4.3% all-in fixed rate debt through 2027 in an unreliable financing market. We immediately got to work on all 3 items. But we knew with multiple sophisticated lenders with the right to renegotiate terms pursuant to that bankruptcy, we are in for a fight. Not to mention HNA was acting nefariously along the way, trying to constantly delay and savitage our well-intentioned plans.

Despite that behavior from HNA, one by one, we signed up the lenders to reinstate their debt on the same terms. It's in volatile markets like these where a thorough business plans, repositioning experience and deep relationships prove to be extremely valuable.

With all that debt in place, we closed on the acquisition in September. The acquisition was completed inclusive of all costs on a basis still $400 million inside of HNA's basis. Not to mention, we did retain a $185 million judgment against HNA, which we will continue to pursue and expect to receive some proceeds here in the future.

Now that we own the asset, what is the plan? Our strategy is to deploy efficient and value maximizing capital into the building. The program, which we have developed with [ Con Pederson Fox ], the same architectural team from OVA and OMA will allow us to manage our all-in basis while also attracting the highest caliber tenants on Park Avenue. Let's take a look at a few of these images.

First, you will see the Park Avenue entry of the building with an over cloud [ Tarikoto ] facade and an extensively upgraded and enhanced public plaza on the avenue. We are only over cladding the facade on Park and extending the overcloud returns on 46 and 47 to 4 base. As we walk into the Park Avenue entry, you will notice a bright and sophisticated lobby, which will feature never before seen lit connectivity between the Park and [ Lexington ] entrances.

Further, the lobby will feature direct state direct access to a state-of-the-art amenity program featuring a new gym, a new wellness center and F&B run by [ Daniel Balu ].

As we make our way to the top of the house, you will see the brand-new rooftop amenity, which will serve all tenants in the building and serve as a source of ancillary income for the asset. With a total base building budget of $171 million and the SLG management team at the helm, we are well suited to push rents, lease up vacancy and retain existing tenants.

After completion of this transformative base building program, 245 will be one of the top 3 renovated assets on Park Avenue in a peer set with [ Seagrams ] and [ Weaver ] house with an expected all-in basis before leasing costs at approximately $1,200 a foot.

..... There are presently 318 active tenant searches being tracked, covering almost 19 million square feet, 2/3 of which are in the fire and [ TAMI ] sectors.

Looking forward, there's 85 million square feet of lease expirations over the next 5 years or about an average of 17 million square feet per year as compared to only 14 million square feet in 2022 and 9% of expiring leases between 2023 to 2027 or 0.25 million square feet or larger, and the majority of those are between 10,000 and 100,000 square feet. Our portfolio is particularly well positioned to capture those larger tenants given that we have 4 of our best buildings with contiguous blocks of high-quality space.

[NYguy]

I wish they were covering the entire building. It would be nice.

[Busy Bee]

Right there with you... that would look incredible.

[JMKeynes]

I don't think that they're adding a new facade. SLG never said that they are, and those renderings don't look like they are. They appear to be doing something only to the base on the Park Ave side and to the very top floors. That's better than nothing, and the base looks nice at least. The landscaping is really nice.

I suspect that they don't want to put too much money into this because perhaps they plan to raze the tower in twenty years.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

I don't think that they're adding a new facade. SLG never said that they are, and those renderings don't look like they are. They appear to be doing something only to the base on the Park Ave side and to the very top floors. That's better than nothing, and the base looks nice at least. The landscaping is really nice.

I suspect that they don't want to put too much money into this because perhaps they plan to raze the tower in twenty years.

They stated above exactly what they’re doing, which fits the renderings. It would be nicer if they did the entire building.

First, you will see the Park Avenue entry of the building with an over cloud facade and an extensively upgraded and enhanced public plaza on the avenue.

We are only over cladding the facade on Park and extending the overcloud returns on 46 and 47 to 4 base. As we walk into the Park Avenue entry, you will notice a bright and sophisticated lobby, which will feature never before seen lit connectivity between the Park and [ Lexington ] entrances.

The rooftop space, as they mentioned earlier, could be opened to the public. They want to use it as an additional source of income. It would be nice if it is, you can never have too many views of this iconic skyline.

[JMKeynes]

This is lame, but it’s better than nothing.

[JSsocal]

Even if they redid the whole podium in this way, that would be a win.

As ugly as this building is, the side core is a feature now and ahead of its time. Many of the class A buildings now are starting to be developed this way. (See Penn 15 & 270 Park)

And this building is big, its not going away anytime soon.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by JSsocal

Even if they redid the whole podium in this way, that would be a win.

As ugly as this building is, the side core is a feature now and ahead of its time. Many of the class A buildings now are starting to be developed this way. (See Penn 15 & 270 Park)

And this building is big, its not going away anytime soon.

I agree.