Finally, in November 2004, we and Crescent each sold a portion of our investment in AmeriCold (including both the real estate and operating sides of the business) to The Yucaipa Companies. Yucaipa paid $145 million for a 20.7% interest. The purchase price was based on a $1.450 billion asset valuation, which approximates our economic cost. Yucaipa is a highly regarded private equity firm founded by Ron Burkle, with significant expertise in the food distribution, logistics and retail industries. Yucaipa managers Tony Schnug, acting CEO, and Neal Rider, head of sales and marketing, are in Atlanta working hard to improve the business. Our investment is now reduced from 60% to 47.6%. Vornado has three of five Board seats and consolidates AmeriCold in our financial statements.

This series of transactions, which so greatly improved our position with respect to AmeriCold, was the result of the hard work and talent of Mike and Joe Macnow, Wendy Silverstein, Alan Rice and Richard Reczka. Thanks also to the AmeriCold team in Atlanta and John Goff and Jerry Crenshaw.

Vornado owns 1,654,068 shares of Alexander's Inc., a 33% stake in this NYSE-listed REIT. The shares, which had a value of $65 on January 1, 2003 and $125 on January 1, 2004, are now trading at $244, making Vornado's equity investment worth $403 million at market⁽⁸⁾ which, together with Vornado's $124 million loan to Alexander's, represents a total investment of $527 million.

Alexander's has no corporate level employees. Vornado serves as its for-fee external manager, leasing agent, developer, etc. Alexander's is essentially a New York-centric, three asset company,⁽⁹⁾ namely the Bloomberg/One Beacon Court tower in Manhattan, the Kings Plaza regional shopping center in Brooklyn and the Rego Park retail complex and development site in Queens. It is likely that Alexander's asset quality, pound for pound, is the very best in all of REITland.

We have no proposal with respect to Alexander's at the present time—none is needed or currently appropriate.⁽¹⁰⁾ The market saw to that. In the past year, Alexander's share price doubled and now more closely reflects its asset value. In 2004, Alexander's became cash flow positive and is now building cash. And, Alexander's is not yet fully cooked. A large ground-up development on land Alexander's has long owned in Rego Park (described below) has just begun the approval process, an expansion of Kings Plaza will begin shortly, tenants are still moving into the Bloomberg tower and apartments have just begun to close at One Beacon Court.