Holliday, Hernandez, Pelet and Schledwitz of Cushman and Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman arrange $145 million for SL Green

Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman (CWSG), serving as the exclusive advisor to SL Green Realty Corp. (SL Green), has arranged a $145 million leasehold mortgage for the refinancing of 420 Lexington Ave., known as the Graybar Building. The financing was provided by TIAA-CREF. Morton Holliday, managing director of CWSG, said, "The financing was accomplished during one of the most turbulent times in the credit market history and in a severe economic downturn. It is heartening to note that even in these distressed times financing is still available for the deals that have the right mix of quality sponsor, quality building, quality location, and conservative underwriting. The Graybar Building financing met all of these criteria." The CWSG team included Holliday, Alex Hernandez, Kate Pelet and Kathryn Schledwitz. The Graybar Building is a 31-story, 1.5 million s/f office and retail building which towers above Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The building is currently 97% leased to a large number of diverse, credit-worthy tenants. Since SL Green's acquisition of the property in 1998, the firm has completed an $84 million capital improvement program that included a lobby upgrade, façade repair, new storefronts and significant leasing related tenant improvements. CWSG provides a full range of financial services, including debt and equity placements, joint ventures, hospitality investment sales and advisory services in the U.S. and collaborates world-wide with its parent, Cushman & Wakefield. SL Green Realty Corp. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, that predominantly acquires, owns, repositions and manages Manhattan office properties. The company is the only publicly held REIT that specializes in this niche. As of June 30, 2009, the company owned interests in 29 New York City office properties totaling approximately 23,211,200 square feet, making it New York's largest office landlord. In addition, at June 30, 2009, SL Green held investment interests in, among other things, eight retail properties encompassing approximately 400,212 square feet, three development properties encompassing approximately 399,800 square feet and two land interests, along with ownership interests in 32 suburban assets totaling 6,949,700 square feet in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey. The formation of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman established the industry's leading independent real estate investment banking firm. The firm was originally founded as Sonnenblick Goldman in 1893 to serve the financing needs of the real estate industry.