China Vanke, Adam America score $99M loan to build LIC condo

China Vanke and Adam America Real Estate pulled off a $98.5 million construction loan for their 182-unit Long Island City condominium project at 22-12 Jackson Avenue.

Israel-based Bank Leumi provided the financing for the development of the 11-story, 205,000-square-foot property, according to JLL, which brokered the deal.

For both developers, the project marks their debut in Queens. Adam America’s developments have otherwise been almost entirely in Brooklyn. Adam America and frequent collaborator Slate are also partnering with Vanke, China’s largest property developer, on the development of a 33-story Downtown Brooklyn condo and the controversial Rivington House conversion on the Lower East Side.

Vanke came into the project last fall when it bought out MSD Partners, an investment advisory firm led by principals of Michael Dell’s family office MSD Capital. MSD and Adam America had jointly acquired the development site – then a parking lot – from plastics manufacturer Plaxall for $43.5 million in 2015.  Santander Bank financed the acquisition.

Then, in 2016, the developers filed plans with the Department of Buildings. The property, which is being designed by ODA New York, is slated to have a 5,000-square-foot ground-floor retail component. Construction is expected to be complete by late 2019.

Vanke has a 70 percent stake in the project, according to the firm’s public filings.

JLL’s Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland and Michael Diaz brokered the deal.

“Construction financing continues to be available for high-end developments that boast experienced sponsors who have pin-pointed consumer demand,” Appel said in a statement.

Representatives for Vanke and Adam America could not be reached.

Last month, Vanke’s founder, Wang Shi, stepped down after two years of shareholder infighting.

(To view more properties in development in Long Island City, click here)