SL Green Realty Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire 10 East 53rd St., a 37-story, 390,000-sq.-ft. Midtown Manhattan office building. The purchase price is $252.5 million, or approximately $647 per sq. ft.

The class-A building was constructed in 1972 and is located in New York’s Plaza District between 5th and Madison Avenues, and is currently the headquarters of Harper Collins. The midrise and tower floors feature panoramic views of Central Park and the city’s skyline.

The property, with floor plates ranging between 8,400 and 16,300 rentable sq. ft., is currently 91 percent leased. Over the next three years, leases for approximately 60 percent of the property’s rentable square footage expire, providing the firm an opportunity to take advantage of what SL Green management believes are in-place rents that are substantially below market.

SL Green intends to implement a significant capital improvement program along with a targeted leasing and marketing campaign to reposition and reintroduce the building in the marketplace. The company has entered into a joint venture agreement with an institutional partner, and will hold a 55 percent stake in the venture and act as general partner.

“The Plaza District is home to a number of Midtown’s premier trophy assets, and because of the prestige and value of these assets it is rare that an opportunity to acquire one arises,” SL Green President Andrew Mathias, said in a statement. “When presented with the chance to add one of these assets to our core Midtown portfolio, we seized it.”

The seller was represented by Hines Interests, as asset manager, and by brokers Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan of CBRE.