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Kuafu scores $200M mortgage on UES development site
Times Square-based Chinese firm bought properties from World Wide Group for $300M
UPDATED, 2:00 p.m., Oct. 22: Kuafu Properties closed on a $200 million mortgage for the Times Square-based Chinese private equity firm’s Upper East Side Development Site On East 60th Street.
The mortgage, secured from Columbus Circle-based real estate debt fund Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, covers six contiguous properties at 143-161 East 60th Street and additional right rights from 163 East 60th, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday.
Kuafu acquired the development site for $300 million earlier this year from Midtown-based World Wide Group, as The Real Deal reported. That deal, as well as the $123 million mortgage, closed on Oct. 13, according to property records.
The properties contain almost 283,000 buildable square feet, with Kuafu paying approximately $1,060 per square foot. The developer is planning a high-rise luxury residential tower on the site with up to 60,000 square feet of retail space at the base.
Kuafu declined to comment on the matter. The company is reportedly recruiting foreign investors through the federal EB-5 visa program to raise nearly $50 million for its mixed-use luxury condo development at 147 East 86th Street on the Upper East Side.
Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, led by Richard Mack and Peter Sotoloff, financed Kuafu through its Claros Mortgage Trust division.