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Steve Roth’s Vornado Realty is divesting itself of a major property, to compensate for dropped earnings.
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Vornado, together with Angelo, Gordon & Co, reached a deal to sell The Shops at Georgetown Park in Washington, DC, for $272.5 million. The 305, 000 square foot shopping center went to an undisclosed buyer.
Vornado and Angelo will be turning a tidy profit on the $61 million that they paid for the asset in 2010.
It has also contracted to lease Manhattan’s Prince Lumber site.
Located just north of the Apple Store at the southwest corner of Ninth Ave. and 15th Street, the site is located in area zoned for manufacturing. But, together with its partner on the project Aurora Capital Associates, Vornado intends to build a twelve story office and retail building there.
The plot includes 270 feet of frontage, 170 of which rests on the south side of West 15th Street with the other 100 around the corner on the west side of Ninth Ave. A total of 172, 000 square feet can be constructed there.
The tower is to have a rolling glass façade meant to be reminiscent of the nearby Hudson River. More details of the plans are not yet available as the firm has yet to file its official plans with the city.
Kohn Pederson Fox is designing the new building which is expected to be completed in 2016 and will be called Prince Tower.
Vornado was in need of some good news after it reported a drop of 39% in its earnings for the second quarter of 2014. The decrease was attributed by the firm to the $57.6 million loss that it incurred on its share of the failing Toys R Us chain.
The firm reported a profit of $97 million, or 41 cents per share, down from $158.2 million, or 78 cents per share for the same quarter in 2013.
It also called for redemption of all of the $445 million principal amount of its outstanding 7.875% Public Income Notes. The Notes, which were scheduled to mature on October 1, 2039, will be redeemed on October 1, 2014 at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest to the redemption date.
