This Week's N.Y. Deal Sheet
Several large loans closed in New York this week amid a slower week for leasing and sales.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
Blackstone has agreed to lend $322M to a joint venture of Zeckendorf Development, Atlas Capital Group and The Baupost Group to acquire the site of a $1B luxury condominium project planned for the West Village, according to a release. The Baupost Group is the newest partner to the project, joining the deal on Friday, Commercial Observer reported. Zeckendorf and Atlas, meanwhile, have raised more than $400M of equity in addition to the $322M loan for the 570 Washington St. project, having entered into contract to purchase the lot from Westbrook Partners for $350M in February. The lot has been at the center of a lengthy rezoning process that began in 2013.
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The Leser Group nabbed $201.9M to fund a commercial development in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, PincusCo reported. The 110K SF property, acquired by Leser in 2015 for $33.6M, also comes with 215K SF of air rights. The building is located in the Ocean Hill section of Bed-Stuy at 2440 Fulton St., with an alternate address of 1495 Herkimer St. Leser has since filed plans for a six-story, 325K SF commercial building, where the city has signed a 200K SF office lease, The Real Deal reported. The lender on the deal was UMB Bank, and the debt was split into two construction loans and a refinancing loan, per TRD.
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Pennrose Holdings, Acacia Real Estate Development and an affiliate of the New York City Housing Authority snagged a $117.4M unfunded forward loan from Freddie Mac for an affordable housing community portfolio in Bushwick, Commercial Observer reported. The development, Hope Gardens, also obtained financing through Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a seller note and a deferred developer fee. Hope Gardens features 1,321 units — all of which are subsidized by long-term Section 8 contracts — across 60 scattered-site multifamily properties around one community center building. The financing deal was arranged by a Lument team led by Josh Reiss.
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Luxury real estate investor and developer Anbau has secured a $98M loan from First Republic Bank for its Flatiron House building at 39 West 23rd St., Commercial Observer reports. The two towers, which include half- and full-floor residences, total 44 units. Meridian Capital Group’s Adam Hakim, James Murad and Andrew Iadeluca arranged the fixed-rate, full-term, interest-only loan.
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A borrower affiliated with principals of Maddd Equities, Joy Construction and the Katz Family has secured a $97M financing deal from Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, according to a release. The five-year, floating-rate deal will refinance a multifamily property located at 411 West 35th St. close to Hudson Yards built in 2018 and known as The Lewis. Brad Domenico of Progress Capital arranged the deal.
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Slate Asset Management has agreed to loan $61.25M to Slate Property Group for the $69.9M acquisition and planned renovation of three multifamily properties in Chelsea, which are predominantly walkup prewar buildings, according to a release. The properties, 301 West 22nd St., 300 West 21st St. and 229 West 20th St., contain 94 rental units between them. Westwood Realty Associates’ Steven Vegh arranged the off-market transaction.
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Storage Post Self Storage scored a $33.2M acquisition loan for a 2,388-unit self-storage facility at 620 Richmond Terrace in Staten Island, according to a release. The lender was alternative asset management firm SoundPoint Capital. A JLL Capital Markets team including Steve Klein, Robert Tonnessen, Jackie Ferrer and Ricky Song oversaw the deal. The four-story facility will benefit from NYC’s 15-year Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program, paying no property taxes for its first 11 years in the space. Staten Island’s North Shore, home to Storage Post’s newest location, is a densely populated trade area with few self-storage options, according to the release.
TOP SALES
The Carlyle Group has purchased a 180K SF self-storage retail condo in Long Island City from Queens developer Criterion Group for $80M, Commercial Observer reported. The deal for the 31-08 Northern Blvd. condo covers part of the first floor of the nine-story building and all of the remaining eight floors. Criterion first bought the condo for $40M in 2015.
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Daryl Hagler, a healthcare executive who has recently purchased properties including Long Island City’s office building The Cigar Factory and a nine-story senior care facility in Brooklyn, has made another Long Island City purchase, Commercial Observer reported. Hagler’s latest purchase is 38-59 11th St., an under-construction hotel, from developer Teddy Li, which reportedly sold for $63M. Although Li’s original plan was a 24-story, 240-key hotel, which had secured a $46M construction loan from Madison Realty Capital in 2019, it’s unclear whether the property will go forward with that use.
TOP LEASES
The Feil Organization signed three new tenants across two properties this week, totaling 33K SF of newly leased space, according to a release. Paul Smith, British clothing designer, signed a 13K SF lease at 257 Park Ave. South for a new office and showroom, while real estate company Beachwold Residential took 13K SF on the 13th floor of the same building. UK-based digital advertising firm Loop Me signed for 8K SF on the sixth floor of 853 Broadway, a 157K SF, 21-story landmarked building in Union Square. 257 Park Ave. South, also known as the Gramercy Park Building, is a 20-story property first built in 1912. Rob Fisher represented Feil in-house on all three deals. Newmark’s Will Grover and Ben Shapiro repped Paul Smith, Savills’ Jared Stern repped Beachwold Residential, and Brandon Cooperstock of Savills and Justin Pollner of Newmark repped LoopMe.
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Vornado Realty Trust has signed a new tenant to its 169K SF 825 Seventh Ave. office tower, according to a release. Nonprofit New Alternatives for Children signed a 60K SF lease for the entire fifth, sixth and ninth floors in the Midtown building, including exclusive access to a ninth-floor rooftop area. A JLL team including Matthew Astrachan, Ellen Herman and Hale King represented the tenant, while the landlord had representation in-house from Edward Riguardi, as well as from Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ Jeffrey Sussman and Avison Young’s John Ryan III.
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The Chicago Trading Co. has signed a 68K SF lease at The Durst Organization’s One Five One West 42nd Street. The 15-year lease across the 36th and 37th floors was arranged by CBRE’s Ben Friedland, Jason Pollen, Hannah Gerard, Mark Keebler and Brad Serot on behalf of the tenant. Tom Bow, Rocco Romeo and Tanya Grimaldo repped Durst in-house in the deal. The Midtown office tower recently completed a $150M capital improvement program and features a 46K SF amenity floor.
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Candy store IT’SUGAR has signed a 20K SF lease in Times Square with landlord Torchlight Investors, according to a release. The space at 234 West 42nd St. was previously occupied by a Modell’s Sporting Goods. CBRE’s Lon Rubackin, Mike Kadosh and Bevan Cohen represented the new tenant in the deal.
CORRECTION, JULY 13, 12 P.M. ET: A previous version of this article misstated the loan amount from Slate Asset Management. This story has been updated.
