German commercial real estate finance group Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank has closed on a five-year, $65 million refinance loan for 160 Fifth Avenue, a nine-story, 139,487-square-foot office building owned by RFR Holding. The loan on the LEED-certified building, which sits on the corner of 21st Street, was executed along with Buffalo, N.Y.-based M & T Bank. The building, which is currently 89-percent leased, was purchased by RFR in 2005. TRD [more]

While many of the money center banks are sitting on the sidelines when it comes to providing mortgage financing, Chinese, German and European financial institutions and insurance companies are dipping their feet into the water to provide much needed financing for commercial real estate. Foreign and domestic lenders and insurance companies prefer to lend to real estate investment trusts. Later this month, a syndicate led by Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank is expected to close on a $135 million loan on the 25-story office tower at 300 Park Avenue. The 15 floors of the tower serve as the world headquarters for Colgate Palmolive. The borrowing entity is controlled by Tishman Speyer Properties. As reported in The Real Deal today, a syndicate of banks led by the Bank of China, provided SL Green Realty with a five-year, floating rate mortgage for $475 million for the landmark Times Square office tower at 1515 Broadway. The new mortgage replaces the former $625 million mortgage that was due to mature in November 2010.  More
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The owners of the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park are expected to refinance the building Monday. The $1.275 billion loan is one of the biggest private financings since 2007. The money, which took building owners Durst Organization and Bank of America nine months to get, will be used to pay back a $950 million loan on the building, to repay investors and to finish work on the tower. Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo Bank, Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank and Helaba Bank are providing the financing. Douglas Durst, the Durst Organization’s chairman, said securing the financing for the tower was part of what allowed him to resign as the company’s co-president. He will stay on as chairman. [more]