SL Green Realty Corp. will have to pay almost $600,000 to continue to operate an aerial pedestrian bridge linking two large office buildings it owns next to Madison Square Park.
The $11 billion real estate firm, one of the largest owners of commercial property in the city, is seeking permission from the Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for overseeing the handful of sky bridges that cross over city streets, to continue to use the passageway.
In order to operate the bridge, which crosses 100 feet above East 24th Street, between Park Avenue South and Madison Avenue, SL Green must pay the city $580,265 over the next decade.
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The silver, art deco–style sky bridge connects 1 Madison Ave. to 11 Madison Ave., and in recent years it has been used by Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which has office space in both properties and on the floors connected by the aerial walkway. SL Green passes the cost of the bridge on to Credit Suisse by including the charge in its rent bill.
The DOT controls the streets and has regulatory oversight of any structures that encroach on that real estate, or even above it, including sky bridges. The agency has a formula to calculate the fee an owner must pay to maintain a sky bridge that takes into account the length of the span and the value of the properties it connects.
Most aerial pedestrian bridges are relics from decades past. Few have been approved historically because they block light and views. The sky bridge over East 24th Street was originally constructed by MetLife, the insurance firm that developed and once owned both 1 Madison Ave. and 11 Madison Ave.
SL Green has owned 1 Madison Ave. for more than a decade and purchased the neighboring 11 Madison Ave. in 2015 for roughly $2.3 billion.
SL Green Realty Corp. will have to pay almost $600,000 to continue to operate an aerial pedestrian bridge linking two large office buildings it owns next to Madison Square Park.
The $11 billion real estate firm, one of the largest owners of commercial property in the city, is seeking permission from the Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for overseeing the handful of sky bridges that cross over city streets, to continue to use the passageway.
In order to operate the bridge, which crosses 100 feet above East 24th Street, between Park Avenue South and Madison Avenue, SL Green must pay the city $580,265 over the next decade.
The silver, art deco–style sky bridge connects 1 Madison Ave. to 11 Madison Ave., and in recent years it has been used by Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which has office space in both properties and on the floors connected by the aerial walkway. SL Green passes the cost of the bridge on to Credit Suisse by including the charge in its rent bill.
The DOT controls the streets and has regulatory oversight of any structures that encroach on that real estate, or even above it, including sky bridges. The agency has a formula to calculate the fee an owner must pay to maintain a sky bridge that takes into account the length of the span and the value of the properties it connects.
Most aerial pedestrian bridges are relics from decades past. Few have been approved historically because they block light and views. The sky bridge over East 24th Street was originally constructed by MetLife, the insurance firm that developed and once owned both 1 Madison Ave. and 11 Madison Ave.
SL Green has owned 1 Madison Ave. for more than a decade and purchased the neighboring 11 Madison Ave. in 2015 for roughly $2.3 billion.
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