NEW YORK CITY-In the first quarter of 2012, SL Green Realty Corp. signed 70 leases totaling 684,337 square feet to tenants like Random House, Jazz at Lincoln Center and FTI Consulting. But during the Manhattan office REIT’s annual earnings call, all eyes and ears were focused on Viacom’s massive lease renewal at 1515 Broadway in the heart of Times Square.

While the mega-deal does not fall under the REIT’s Q1 earnings, the transaction broke in the Commercial Observer shortly before the company posted its filings for the quarter – a chain of events which company president Andrew Mathias described as all about timing.

“With a firm like Viacom, this was a very deliberate decision on their part,” Mathias said. “They had been evaluating their options for well over a year, if not years. They are the type of firm who has a little bit of cultural similarity to us. When the evaluation is done and the decision is made, there is no reason to belabor expensive, time-consuming negotiations and wasted resources. They knew what they wanted, and we knew what they needed. We’d had a 10-year relationship with this firm at the highest levels, and we were able to quickly and efficiently knock out a deal, which is consistent with our pedigree.”