Stephen L. Green
Since founding SL Green Properties in 1980, Stephen Green has been involved in the acquisition of over 75 Manhattan office buildings containing in excess of 50 million square feet of space.
Mr. Green launched his career in commercial real estate in 1980 when he began purchasing older, underperforming loft buildings. By injecting fresh capital into these properties, he was able to create new value in buildings with architectural integrity, and at the same time offer tenants a real alternative to higher priced Class A office towers.
When the New York office market rebounded in the mid 1990’s, Mr. Green formed the first public REIT to focus solely on New York City, and aggressively expanded his portfolio.
Since it’s IPO in 1997, SL Green has experienced remarkable growth. When the firm went public, S.L. Green Realty Corp. owned 6 properties comprising 1.2 million square feet, and had a market capitalization of $258 million. Today, the company is Manhattan’s largest owner of office buildings, with 42 buildings totaling over 25 million square feet. S.L. Green Realty Corp. now has a combined market capitalization of more than $12 billion.
Over the past 3 years, based on total return, S.L. Green Realty Corp. is ranked as the number one office REIT in the United States.
Mr. Green received his BA from Hartwick College in 1959, and earned his JD from Boston College Law School in 1962. He later attended New York University Law School’s Graduate Tax Program, and went on to practice trial law for five years. Mr. Green is a Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York and a member of the Executive Committee. He is also on the Board of Directors of Street Squash, an urban youth enrichment program providing academic tutoring and squash instruction. A former nationally ranked squash player and a bronze medalist at the 1985 Maccabiah Games, Mr. Green endows the country’s premiere squash tournament, known as the “SL Green National Open Squash Championships.”
