(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

NEW YORK CITY-Locally based SL Green Realty Corp., in a joint venture with developer Jeff Sutton, has acquired interests in two Manhattan retail buildings. They purchased a 90% leasehold stake in 1604 Broadway, a 41,100-sf space in Times Square, for about $21 million, as well as the leasehold interest in the 67,000-sf 379 West Broadway, a mixed-use building in SoHo, for about $20 million, according to industry sources. The Times Square building is owned by Conseco Life Insurance Co., and a group called 379 West Broadway Associates has ownership of the SoHo property, according to city documents.

SL Green executives plan to reposition and add value to the retail space at 1604 Broadway, says Andrew Mathias, chief investment officer of the company. The space is now home to Sbarro fast-food restaurant. The second floor had been occupied by Noche, a short-lived restaurant.

The five-story 379 West Broadway property, which has frontage on that road as well as Wooster Street, has Polo Ralph Lauren and fashion retailer Morgane LeFay. The building's largest office tenants are Two Sigma Investments LLC and Sotheby's International Realty Inc.