1515 Broadway
SL Green Realty Corp. this morning announced that Viacom Inc.has renewed its commitment at 1515 Broadway by extending and expanding the company’s occupancy at the iconic two million square feet Times Square tower through 2031.
Viacom’s future expansion is expected to cover the balance of the building’s office space after 202.
The 1.4 million square feet deal is believed to be the largest-ever New York City office lease, other than sale-leaseback arrangements.
It comes on the heels of a recently closed $775 million first mortgage refinancing by Bank of China. The financing is for a term of seven years and replaces the previous $447 million financing. Excess proceeds will be used to fund this transaction and for general corporate purposes.
Marc Holliday, chief executive officer of SL Green, said, “Times Square is one of the world’s best-known locations, which makes it the perfect home for a high-profile company such as Viacom. The company has been a corporate anchor in Times Square for over 20 years and the extraordinary building branding opportunity provided in this lease will allow Viacom to increase its corporate visibility to millions of New York City visitors at the ‘Crossroads of the World’ for years to come.
“The transaction reaffirms the desirability for trophy assets located in the prime areas of midtown Manhattan.”
Viacom president Philippe Dauman, added, “We have had a great partnership with SL Green and have been proud to help lead the revitalization of the Times Square neighborhood for two decades. We could not be more pleased to extend our commitment to New York City and Times Square well into the future.”
Commenting on the debt refinancing for the building, Andrew Mathias, president of SL Green said, “This loan, the terms of which were committed to prior to the completion of our lease agreement with Viacom, demonstrates the strength of the relationship we have developed with Bank of China. We appreciate the Bank’s confidence in us and our portfolio and we look forward to continuing to expand this key relationship.”
Acquired by SL Green in t 2002, the building has gone through a complete make-over which has included the full re-positioning of all retail space, a comprehensive redevelopment program and revenue enhancement with state-of-the-art LED advertising signage.
In addition to being anchored by Viacom, 1515 Broadway is also home to the Minskoff Theater, one of the city’s largest live performance theaters and Best Buy Theater, which is the city’s premier rock concert venue together with other national retailers such as Billabong, Aeropostale and Oakley.
Michael Laginestra, Scott Gottlieb, Andrew Sussman and Ramneek Rikhy from CBRE Group, Inc., Chris Smith and Gina Love from Shearman & Sterling LLP and a team of in-house professionals represented Viacom in the transaction. SL Green handled this record setting lease with its team of in-house professionals together with Noah Shapiro and Russ Rabinovich from Haynes and Boone, LLP.
