SL Green Realty said it sold the building at 245 Park Avenue, which has 1.8 million-square-foot of office space, to a U.S. affiliate of Japanese real estate developer Mori Trust Co Ltd. Its sale represents a slight discount to the $2.21 billion that China's HNA Group paid to acquire the building in 2017 when New York City's commercial real estate market was at its peak. SL Green took control of 245 Park Avenue last year after lenders seized the building from HNA Group. Jesse Keenan, sustainable real estate professor at Tulane University, said the transaction is a speculative investment that suggests the deep downturn in the New York commercial real estate market may have bottomed out. SL Green Realty was the biggest gainer among listed REITs, leading its peers Vornado Realty Trust (VNO.N), Office Properties Income Trust (OPI.O), and Boston Properties Inc (BXP.N).

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Persons: Kohn Pedersen Fox, Angelo Gordon, Jesse Keenan, Keenan, Vornado, Chibuike Oguh, Herbert Lash, Lisa Shumaker, Lance Tupper, Michelle Price Organizations: YORK, SL Green Realty Corp, Big, SL Green Realty, Mori Trust, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Grand, Ares Management, Societe Generale, HNA, Green, HNA Group, Tulane University, New York, Green Realty, Vornado Realty, Income, Boston Properties Inc, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Manhattan, New York