SL Green Reports Steady Leasing, 91% Occupancy Amid Market Volatility

Same-store cash net operating income decreased from the second quarter last year by 1 percent to $153.3 million, which excludes income from lease terminations. 

SL Green inked 46 Manhattan office leases in the second quarter encompassing 541,721 square feet. For the first six months of 2025, the corporation signed 91 Manhattan leases totaling 1.1 million square feet.

The REIT giant had 91.4 percent occupancy in Manhattan as of June 30, and projected 93.2 percent occupancy by the end of the year based on a pipeline of deals signed but not yet commenced. 

“The achievements for the quarter were impressive in my view against a volatile economic backdrop and a higher than optimal short-term rate environment for some firms,” Marc Holliday, chairman and CEO of SL Green, said during the earnings call Thursday afternoon. “The confluence of these events and the current market environment presents challenges, but SL Green is adept at dealing with the volatility.”

Holliday noted that a good number of leases signed to date or in the works are “midsized” and from a range of industries. He said 80 percent of the 1 million square feet of leases in the pipeline are for  25,000 square feet or less. Fewer than half are with financial services companies, and the rest of the deals include law firms, technology companies, professional services firms, nonprofits and companies in media, advertising and real estate.

“This is evidence of a very healthy environment, not only for top buildings but throughout the portfolio,” Holliday said. “Half the pipeline by square footage represents non-Park Avenue properties, so this is definitely an indication that the demand has radiated out from east to west within our portfolio, from Third Avenue all the way to Seventh.”

SL Green is well positioned to tackle new investments, according to Holliday, thanks to achieving $300 million of fresh capital from taking a mortgage position on RFR’s 522 Fifth Avenue and selling a 50 percent participation interest in the preferred equity position at 625 Madison Avenue. 

New York’s largest office REIT also announced Thursday it has surpassed its initial $1 billion fundraising goal for its SLG Opportunistic Debt Fund. The company said it has received more than $500 million of new commitments for the fund within the past week alone. 

When asked about the possibility of Zohran Mamdani becoming New York’s next mayor and advocating for socialist policies after the Queens assemblyman won the Democratic primary in an upset against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June, Holliday said he has not seen any impact from the result in tenant negotiations. But Holliday said he expects a close election in November, and said that no matter who emerges as the winner the REIT will be ready to adapt like it has under five mayors since becoming a public company. 

“The voters are going to determine the outcome, and I’m very confident in our ability and given our relationships across the board of the political ideology to continue to operate and succeed in whatever political environment that we’re facing,” said Holliday. Nevertheless, he expressed support for current Mayor Eric Adams, who will be on the ballot in November as an independent candidate along with Cuomo.

“We’ve been pretty clear in what we look for in a mayor in terms of being both pro-business but also active in social causes and affordability, and we think Mayor Adams has achieved that, but the voters will have their day in November.”

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.