Vornado also acquired the 165,000-sf Forest Plaza Shopping Center on Staten Island for $32.5 million. The purchase, which included $18.5 million in debt, was funded as part of a Section 1031 tax-free "like-kind" exchange using the remaining portion of the proceeds from the sale of the company's Two Park Ave. property last year.

And, as GlobeSt.com reported last week, AmeriCold Realty Trust, the REIT's joint venture with Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equties Co., completed a $254.4 million mortgage financing with Morgan Stanley. This mortgage affects 21 owned and seven leased warehouses for the JV, which is owned 60% by Vornado and 40% by Crescent. The loan matures in April 2006 with three one-year extension options. Net proceeds are expected to be $225 million after the repayment of $12.9 million of existing mortgages. It is expected that $135 million will be distributed to Vornado and $90 million will go to Crescent.

Earlier, Vornado sold its 75% interest in Palisades, a residential tower in Fort Lee, NJ for $222.5 million. From that sale, the company expects to gain approximately $70 million.