Aby Rosen’s RFR takes full ownership of Seagram Building

Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ RFR Holding has taken full ownership of the iconic Seagram Building in Midtown, the Wall Street Journal reported.

RFR paid off various stakeholders and borrowed roughly $1 billion to refinance the debt on the 38-story building at 375 Park Avenue, according to loan securitization filings seen by the Journal. The new loan carries a relatively low 3.5 percent interest rate.

In 2000, RFR and its partners paid $375 million to acquire the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed building at auction. Two years ago, RFR, reached an agreement with 39 percent stakeholder Peter Brant to purchase his share, and financed the deal through a $160 million loan from the Blackstone Group and others.

RFR later acquired the remaining 14 percent of the building, from Harry Lis, who recently settled lawsuits against RFR in a dispute related to the building. [WSJ, 1st item]  – Hiten Samtani