Wharton Properties, SLG buy $195M note secured by their Times Square retail

Jeff Sutton’s Wharton Properties and the large real estate investment trust SL Green Realty through the entities 1552 Broadway Lender LLC and 115 Bway Lender II LLC, bought a note with an original principal of $195 million from United Overseas Bank secured by Wharton Properties and SL Green Realty’s retail building (K2) at 1552 Broadway and leasehold of the retail portion of the GFP Real Estate-owned 1560 Broadway, in Times Square, Manhattan.

The city document does not disclose the amount of money paid for the loan or how much principal remains.
The deal closed on June 12, 2025 and was recorded on July 7, 2025. The prior lender was United Overseas Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $195 million.

More owners are buying their notes through affiliated entities, as PincusCo has reported, including WM Realty Management at 4812 14th Avenue, and APF Properties at 45-11 33rd Street.

The note buying entities are newly formed and are not the same as the existing property owning entity, 1552 Broadway Retail Owner LLC, through which Sutton and SL Green have owned the property and the retail master lease since 2011. In 2023, CRE News reported the loan was extended.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, two out of the three buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Times Square, The majority, or 58 percent of the 10.1 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Times Square has 3.6 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $957.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 9th highest in Manhattan. For development, Times Square has 2.4 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 28 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of N/A Broadway, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 15 commercial properties representing 2,153,184 square feet of the 2,167,128 square feet. The largest owner is SL Green Realty, followed by Durst Organization and then Wharton Properties.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 92 percent of the 2.2 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 4 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Wharton Properties owned at least 86 commercial properties with 204 residential units in New York City with 3,291,819 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.7 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $263.8 million in debt, with top three lenders as Valley National Bank, Bank of China, and Provident Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 68 percent of the 3,291,819 square feet of built space are office properties, with retail properties next occupying 20 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 10 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that SL Green Realty owned at least 35 commercial properties with 892 residential units in New York City with 18,000,308 square feet and a city-determined market value of $7.7 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 93 percent of the 18,000,308 square feet of built space are office properties, with elevator properties next occupying 4 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

Direct link to Acris document. link