Timothy J. O'Connor Named President of Gramercy Capital Corp.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gramercy Capital Corp. (NYSE:GKK) today announced the appointment of Timothy J. O’Connor as President. A veteran of the commercial real estate industry, he served most recently as Chief Operating Officer of iStar Financial Inc.

The appointment follows the Company’s recent modification of its management agreement with an affiliate of SL Green Realty Corp., which was announced in late October. At that time, Roger Cozzi was named CEO.

As President of Gramercy Capital Corp., Mr. O’Connor will assume a broad range of responsibilities, with a particular focus on completing the integration of its Gramercy Realty unit into the Company and producing greater operational efficiencies. Gramercy Realty consists of many of the assets and staff that formerly comprised American Financial Realty Trust, which was acquired earlier this year. The unit manages a portfolio of net lease commercial properties totaling over 29 million square feet.

Mr. O’Connor joined iStar Financial in 1998, and during his tenure was responsible for developing and managing that company’s risk management and due diligence operations, participating in the evaluation and approval of new investments, coordinating information systems, and managing the post-acquisition integration of several corporate acquisitions. Previously, he served as a vice president of Morgan Stanley, responsible for the performance of over $2 billion of assets acquired by the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he held positions at Greystone Realty Corporation and Exxon.

Mr. O’Connor holds a B.S. degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Mr. Cozzi commented, “We continue to build an experienced and highly capable new leadership team that is well suited to guide Gramercy through the current period of market correction. I am very pleased that Tim is joining us. He is well known and highly regarded as one of the industry’s outstanding executives. I know from my experience in working with him for the past decade that he is the right person for this job.”

About Gramercy Capital Corp.

Gramercy Capital Corp. is an integrated commercial real estate finance and property investment company operating in two complementary areas: Gramercy Finance, which focuses on the direct origination and acquisition of whole loans, subordinate interests in whole loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, CMBS and other real estate securities; and Gramercy Realty, which focuses on the acquisition and management of commercial properties net leased primarily to regulated financial institutions and affiliated users throughout the United States. Gramercy is externally-managed by GKK Manager LLC, which is a majority-owned subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG). Gramercy is headquartered in New York City, and has regional investment and portfolio management offices in Los Angeles, California, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Forward-looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information based upon the Company's current best judgment and expectations. Actual results could vary from those presented herein. The risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking information in this release include the strength of the commercial finance and real estate property markets, and the banking industry specifically, competitive market conditions, unanticipated administrative costs, general and local economic conditions, interest rates, capital and credit market conditions, bankruptcies and defaults of borrowers or tenants in our properties or properties securing the Company's debt investments, difficulties encountered in integrating American Financial Realty Trust into the Company, compliance with financial covenants, management changes, and other factors including those listed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are beyond the Company's control. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward-looking information. For further information, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.