Aby Rosen’s RFR nabs $20M loan for 90 Fifth Avenue

Money will allow developer to upgrade nearly empty 14th St. building

Aby Rosen and 90 Fifth Avenue
Aby Rosen and 90 Fifth Avenue

Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty has bagged a $20 million loan for 90 Fifth Avenue, which will allow the firm to make significant upgrades to the 115,000-square-foot office building.

RFR was initially looking to Sell The 14th Street building, but decided against it when longtime tenant Forbes defaulted on its rent payment. This led to an early lease termination, giving Rosen an almost empty building in a neighborhood which is all the rage with so-called TAMI tenants — those in the technology, media, advertising and information sectors.

“When we got the space back, we stopped selling it because we had the opportunity to re-tenant it, the same as we do with all our buildings,” Rosen told the New York Post.

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Plans for the building include a 2,500-square-foot roof terrace for tenants, as well as a new lobby and elevators.

“What we’re doing is good for the market in an area going through a dramatic repositioning,” Rosen told the Post.

RFR also secured $100 million in financing for 160 Fifth Avenue, which will enable it to retire $65 million in existing debt on the boutique office property.[NYP]Hiten Samtani