SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* SUGARMAN JAY (Last) (First) (Middle) 1114 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, 39TH FLOOR (Street) NEW YORK NY 10036 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol ISTAR FINANCIAL INC [ SFI ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Chairman and CEO
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 01/15/2009
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock, $.001 par value per share	01/15/2009		F		63,891(1)	A	$0	2,743,732(2)(3)(4)	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:

1. On January 15, 2009, iStar Financial Inc. issued 63,891 shares of iStar common stock to the reporting person, representing the net shares to be issued, after taxes and other withholdings, in connection with the vesting of installments of restricted stock units pursuant to awards dated March 2, 2006, January 19, 2007 and January 18, 2008.

2. On May 1, 2008, 76,294 shares of iStar common stock held by a family trust established for the benefit of the reporting person's children (and indirectly beneficially owned by the reporting person) were transferred to the reporting person and are now held by him directly. This transaction was exempt from reporting under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is being reported voluntarily.

3. Following the completion of these transactions, the reporting person is the beneficial owner of a total of 2,743,732 shares of common stock of iStar Financial Inc., of which 2,291,243 shares are owned directly, 407,945 shares are owned indirectly through three family trusts and 44,544 shares are owned indirectly by the reporting person's spouse.

4. In addition to the shares of iStar common stock owned by the reporting person as reported in this Form 4, the reporting person owns 330,311 restricted stock units that have not yet vested, representing the right to receive an equivalent number of shares of iStar common stock if and when the units vest pursuant to awards dated March 2, 2006, January 19, 2007 and January 18, 2008.

	s/ Jay Sugarman	03/04/2009
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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