Last week marked the close on the 11,200-unit, $5.3B Stuy Town sale, the biggest mixed-use in US history. But not before the deal cleared some major legal hurdles.
As the close approached, there had been discussions that SL Green would file a lawsuit to potentially block the largest single-asset deal since 2006. The firm ended up withdrawing the suit for a $10M check.
"SL Green’s threat was close enough to the closing that everyone was afraid," one exec involved in the deal told the New York Times.
The ordeal began when CWCapital’s parent company, Fortress Investment Group, sued SL Green Realty over its 1 Vanderbilt skyscraper, alleging improperly sold air rights, according to The Real Deal.
Meanwhile, SL Green had lent $200M in 2006 for the Stuy Town sale to Tishman Speyer, which eventually defaulted on the complex, costing SL Green its loan. CWCapital took over management of Stuy Town, leaving SL Green $200M short.
Fortress backed off on the Vanderbilt suit and sent SL Green the $10M check, which cleared the way for Blackstone to end the year with yet another blockbuster deal. [NYT]
