Chinese developer gets $54M loan for LES condo project

Madison Realty Capital has provided a $53.5 million loan to the troubled and recently sold Lower East Side condo project at 208 Delancey Street.

An investor group led by Andy Zhu sold the property in December to a Chinese developer for $29 million, and Bentley Zhao’s New Empire Real Estate Development will manage the project. Madison Realty Capital contributed about $15 million to this acquisition and added another $38.5 million this week, according to the Commercial Observer.

Construction on the project had stalled under the previous ownership group, and the new team plans to partially demolish the steel frame constructed at the site and change the design of the building, which will have 69 units and should span 85,000 square feet.

Zhu’s group purchased the site in 2011 for $8.7 million but had struggled to complete its project and sued prospective buyer American Chengxing Investment in 2016 for not closing on a deal to buy the building. [CO] – Eddie Small