The developers of a supertall Financial District condominium tower at 125 Greenwich Street are in advanced talks to land just north of $500 million in construction financing, separate from a round of EB-5 funding, The Real Deal has learned.
The lender, sources said, is Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, which would provide a three-year construction loan with a one-year extension option. The developers, Bizzi & Partners, Michael Shvo’s SHVO and Howard Lorber’s New Valley LLC, have yet to sign a term sheet, but are in advanced discussions, according to sources familiar with the financing.
The prospective lender has plans to syndicate the massive debt deal, though no other lenders are involved at this time, those sources said.
U.O.B. originated a $135 million land loan for 125 Greenwich in August 2014, property records show. The new construction loan will replace the acquisition financing and provide the sponsors with roughly $375 million in additional funding for the development project.
Separately, the developers are in the process of raising $175 million in subordinate construction financing through the EB-5 program. They have secured about half of the subordinate EB-5 funds, sources said, and the rest of the $175 million will be advanced before the construction loan closes.
Representatives for Bizzi & Partners and Shvo declined to comment, while representatives for U.O.B. and Lorber could not be reached.
U.O.B.’s $135 million land loan was part of the $240 million in debt and equity financing that Howard Michaels’ Carlton Group arranged last year for the project.
The projected total cost for the 91-story, 275-unit tower, slated for completion in 2017, is not yet clear.
Despite the continued financing of large condo projects in New York City, several brokers and lenders have observed that U.S. banks are either cutting down their luxury condo construction lending or stepping away from the market altogether, as TRD reported earlier this week.
Asian banks may increasingly fill that void, sources said.
Konrad Putzier contributed reporting.