Mitchell Hersh
Mack-Cali Realty Corporation esterday announced that it would reduce the company’s second quarter common stock dividend from $0.45 per common share to $0.30 per common share.
The move comes as the office-heavy REIT continues to diversify its portfolio with a push into the multifamily sector.
Mitchell E. Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali, commented, “With the current demand for office space, the dividend reduction represents a prudent step in retaining cash to invest in our multi-family residential platform along with use for general corporate purposes.”
Since acquiring Roseland Properties last October, Mack-Cali has spent nearly $300 million purchasing multifamily properties in both Washington DC and Boston.
Last week, the company announced that it has sold 19 Skyline Drive in Hawthorne, New York, for approximately $17.5 million.
The vacant five-story, 248,400 s/f building was sold to New York Medical College, a member of the Touro College and University System.
Hersh said the sale was a continuation of Mack-Cali’s strategy of recycling its capital out of non-core office assets to fuel diversification into multi-family.
New York Medical College said the building would provide it with upgraded and more flexible space planning for its growing enterprise.
“This is an auspicious day for New York Medical College,” said Alan Kadish, M.D., president of New York Medical College and the Touro College and University System.
“The addition of this prime real estate will open up a wealth of opportunities for new programs we are developing, as well as easing the crowded conditions currently experienced in some of the older buildings on campus.”
The newly acquired five-story building sits adjacent to the campus. The property consists of 12 acres off Route 9A, and houses a 115-seat auditorium/conference room, a fitness center, a cafeteria with a café annex and an 80-seat outdoor dining plaza, and a 720-space parking lot.
Plans are still being finalized, but College officials say they expect renovations to take place this summer, and to begin moving faculty and staff to the Skyline Drive building in September.
