The Moinian Group announced yesterday it has struck a deal with SL Green to recapitalize its stake in 1775 Broadway, recently renamed 3 Columbus Circle, a 768,565-square-foot office tower on Eighth Avenue between 57th and 58th streets.

The deal, which includes a standby mortgage commitment and a possible future investment agreement, will free up funds for The Moinian Group, which defaulted on a $250 million mortgage on the building in March, according to a report at wsj.com, that added that "Moinian, who will keep roughly 51 percent of the building while handing over a 49 percent stake to SL Green, is said to be using the funding to complete the building's massive renovation."

The mortgage on the recently renovated and reclad office building was acquired by Related Cos., and earlier this month Lois Weiss of The New York Post reported that Stephen Ross of Related Cos. "wants to tear down the new renovated commercial office tower and construct a luxury residential condominium" with "135 units he figures he needs to sell for over $2,000 a square foot, and a retail base, which may or may not include Nordstrom's."

Related Cos. was a co-developer of the two-towered Time Warner Center that fronts on the west side of Columbus Circle and is widely regarded as one of he most successful mixed-use projects in the country. It was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Not long after its completion, the Zeckendorfs built 15 Central Park West between 61st and 62nd Streets, that quickly sold out as one of the most expensive luxury condominium apartment projects in the city's history. It was designed by Robert A. M. Stern. It is just to the north of the glass-clad Trump International Hotel and Tower, which was designed by Philip Johnson.

The New York Post article said that "Moinian, who has been partners with SL Green Realty Trust at 180 Maiden Lane and has bought and sold buildings with them over the years, has his shirtsleeves rolled up and is still working toward a deal with that trusty real estate investment trust"

A September 8, 2010 article by Lingling Wei and Eliot Brown in the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Mr. Ross had "swooped in to try to snatch a troubled office tower near Columbus Circle from a smaller rival in hopes of turning the property into the city's first Nordstrom department store, according to people familiar with the matter."

The article said that Mr. Moinian has been trying to hold on to the 26-story building "and was close to restructuring its $250 million mortgage." "But," it continued, "a venture led by Mr. Ross's firm, Related Cos., and Deutsche Bank AG came out of nowhere to purchase the mortgage on the property and is now seeking to foreclose, the people said."

A September 2, 2010 article by Oshrat Carmiel and John Gittelsohn at Bloomberg News said that "a unit of Deutsche Bank AG sued to foreclose on the Manhattan office tower that formerly housed Newsweek magazine, claiming that developer Joseph Moinian failed to repay a $250 million mortgage."

The article said that the "Moinian Group stopped making payments on the mortgage on 1775 Broadway in January, according to the lawsuit filed...in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. The lender, German American Capital Corp., demanded in March that the loan be paid in full."