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Douglaston brings in new partner on West Side resi tower, lands construction loan
Jeffrey Levine's firm gets $415M in financing
UPDATE: June 6, 2019, 4:50 p.m.: Douglaston Development has landed $415 million in construction financing for its new residential tower near Hudson Yards — and a new partner to help get the job done.
Douglaston, the development firm led by Jeffrey Levine, created a joint venture with the publicly traded Ares Management Corporation to develop a 931-unit luxury residential project at 601 West 29th Street at the corner of 11th Avenue, Douglaston and Ares announced Thursday.
The venture also secured construction financing from a group of banks led by HSBC and including Bank of China, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, Santander Bank and Raymond James Bank, Douglaston said. It also closed on about 120,000 square feet of air rights from Hudson River Park. The proceeds of that sale will go toward “significant park improvements in the neighborhood,” the developer said.
Ares also has committed to invest $160 million in joint-venture equity into the project, according to Greystone, whose Drew Fletcher, Paul Fried, Matthew Hirsch and Bryan Grover advised the joint venture on the debt and equity raises.
HSBC confirmed the financing but declined to comment.
Jeffrey Levine, Chairman of Douglaston Development, said in a statement that it took “multiple years to get this very complicated nearly 1-million-square-foot site rezoned and assembled.”
Douglaston filed plans last fall to construct the project and signed a 99-year ground lease, valued at $129.6 million, for the development site. In December, Commercial Observer reported that Douglaston was on the hunt for a $415 million debt deal.
FXCollaborative is designing the project, which will have a fitness center, outdoor terraces, a pool, private cabanas and a pet daycare. The project, slated to open in 2022, will also have 234 affordable units, parking and 15,000 square feet of retail space.
Update: This article was updated to include Ares’ equity contribution to the joint venture and to correct the spelling of the last name of Greystone’s Bryan Grover.