SL Green Bumped From Worldwide Plaza Property Management
The fate of ownership at Worldwide Plaza remains up in the air, but there’s been a quiet change in day-to-day management.
Cushman & Wakefield replaced SL Green as the property manager at 825 Eighth Avenue, Bisnow reported, citing court filings. A judge approved the change, which needed to take place by July 1, though it hadn’t been publicly disclosed in recent weeks.
Hilco Global, which was appointed as a temporary receiver of the property after a foreclosure filing early this year, created bank accounts, found insurance coverage and hired leasing brokers as part of the transition.
None of the parties involved at the distressed office building commented to the publication on the latest development.
The saga at Worldwide Plaza, a 1.8 million-square-foot office complex near Columbus Circle, has been unfolding slowly for months. In February, senior lenders — including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank — filed a foreclosure lawsuit against co-owners SL Green and RXR over $940 million in defaulted senior debt tied to Worldwide Plaza. The default on the $940 million loan, which accelerated to a full outstanding balance of $960 million in January, followed the departure of law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
That legal action ran parallel to a separate, ongoing dispute over a UCC foreclosure sale being pursued by mezzanine lender Extell Development, which the owners had attempted to block. The judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction, but those proceedings are caught up in appeal proceedings.
Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank provided $190 million of senior mezzanine debt in 2017 that was later transferred to Korea-based Shinhan Financial Group. Extell bought the loan last year.
Meanwhile, the building’s leasing has trudged along. SL Green’s second-quarter earnings statement cited a 61 percent occupancy rate for the property, but the receiver put that number much lower for the same period, 51 percent occupied.
More struggles could be ahead as WNET prepares to leave its 95,000-square-foot lease imminently, according to the receiver’s report. Additionally, there are default and eviction proceedings unfolding against three separate retail tenants.
Read more
Judge pumps brakes on Gary Barnett’s Worldwide Plaza UCC sale
Senior lenders move to foreclose on Worldwide Plaza
Holliday, Rechler, Barnett square off in Worldwide Plaza foreclosure brawl: “Sham auction”
