Moskovits, Rubenstein land $197M construction loan for Williamsburg office project

Developers are ready to break ground at 25 Kent Ave.

Rendering of 25 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg
Rendering of 25 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg

Toby Moskovits’ Heritage Equity Partners and Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners have secured enough financing to start building their massive office project in North Williamsburg.

Wells Fargo and Natixis Real Estate Capital have provided a $197 million construction loan to begin work on 25 Kent Avenue, the Wall Street Journal reported. The project, which will span 480,000 square feet for office and light-manufacturing use, doesn’t yet have any committed tenants. Typically, especially after the 2008 economic downturn, developers must prelease their projects before banks are willing to provide financing. Experts told The Real Deal in July that lenders often require up to 50 percent of a project’s rentable space to be preleased.

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“It took a long effort by a lot of people to get it over the finish line,” Jeremiah Kane, director of Rubenstein’s New York operations.

The City Council voted to rezone the North Williamsburg site in July, which allowed the developers to build more than the 160,000 square feet of office space allowed under the old zoning. The initial plan was to rezone a 15-block area around the site, but the City Planning Commission tossed that idea in May. [WSJ]Kathryn Brenzel