SL Green, Sutton Secure $225M Aareal Bank Refi for 650 Fifth Avenue
By Mack Burke October 11, 2017 3:00 pm
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German lender Aareal Bank provided SL Green Realty Corp. and partner Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties with a $225 million package to refinance the firm’s retail space at 650 Fifth Avenue, on which the partners hold a long-term leasehold.
The loan replaces a previous $97 million Aareal mortgage from 2014, and provides an additional $128 million in bridge financing, according to property records.
In 2013, SL Green (SLG) and Sutton acquired a 49-year leasehold for the existing 30,000-square-foot retail portion of the 36-story, mixed-use office tower, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time, and moved to clear additional square footage.
Nearly a year ago, CO first reported that the joint venture completed a deal with Nike to give the sports apparel brand nearly 70,000 square-feet at the location on a lease worth $700 million over 15 years.
A source with knowledge of the Nike lease deal told CO at the time that Sutton and SL Green “added floors to the retail box to make it over 60,000 square feet.” Together, with the additional retail floors, the partners bought out the leases of Godiva and Devon & Blakely, located in the building’s lower level, which gave Nike 100 feet of frontage on Fifth Avenue. The deal nabbed “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” honors from the Real Estate Board of New York as well as the “Deal of the Year” award from CO.
Jeff Sutton did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokeswoman for SL Green did not immediately return a request for comment, and officials at Aareal Bank (ARL) could not immediately be reached.
