These were the top outer borough real estate loans in February

A $246M loan to Clipper Realty topped the list

Clockwise from top left: 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Flatbush Gardens and 123 Linden Boulevard
Clockwise from top left: 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Flatbush Gardens and 123 Linden Boulevard

Large loan origination in the outer boroughs slowed down slightly in February.

While January saw two loans for $300 million or more and the overall top 10 financings of the month had a value of more than $1.3 billion, no loan topped $250 million in February, and the top 10 financings totaled $1.1 billion.

The largest deal of the month was $246 million loan from New York Community Bank to Clipper Realty, followed by a $230 million loan from the Port Authority to MCR Development.

Brooklyn and Queens each took four spots on the list, while the Bronx had two. The full list of top loans for February is as follows:

1) New York Clippers — $246 million
Clipper Realty scored a $246 million loan from New York Community Bank to replace debt on Flatbush Gardens in Brooklyn. The company had paid off mortgage loans of about $168 million on Flatbush Gardens, and the refinancing lowers its interest rates and provides added liquidity. Clipper Realty, led by David Bistricer, purchased the 59-building residential complex in 2005 for $138.2 million through Renaissance Equity Holdings.

2) Hotel fit for a Queen — $230 million
Queens made its debut on the list at the No. 2 spot with a $230 million loan from M&T Bank to MCR Development for the redevelopment of the TWA Flight Center (the city provided an address of 154-68 Brookville Boulevard for the historic building) within John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is the lessor for the building. (The Port Authority is identified as a co-mortgagee on the loan, as part of a financial structure for the project.)

3) Linden Boulevard represent, represent — $137 million
A fund run by the Moinian Group provided developer Solomon Feder’s project at 123 Linden Boulevard in Flatbush with a $137 million loan, landing the No. 3 spot in February. The company took a nearly 50 percent stake in Feder’s conversion of the nursing home site into a 487-unit rental building last March, a deal that also saw the company invest up to almost $20 million in the project.

4) Queen Victoria Towers — $94 million
Bluestone Group lent Jeffrey Wu $94 million for his Victoria Towers project in Flushing. The loan is for 15 residential units, one commercial unit and a parking garage in Victoria Towers at 133-38 Sanford Avenue, as well as an adjacent 100,500-square-foot grocery commercial building at 41-60 Main Street.

5) Crazy 88 — $88 million
The New York State Common Retirement Fund got in on the action in February as well, making an $88 million loan to Blumenfeld Development for its Bulova Corporate Center at 75-20 Astoria Boulevard in East Elmhurst near LaGuardia Airport. Delta Airlines signed a 30,000-square-foot sublease at the center in 2016, and other tenants include the New York City Department of Corrections and the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

6) Storming the beaches of Normandy Real Estate Partners — $81 million
Normandy Real Estate Partners and Keystone Equities landed this $81 million from Deutsche Bank for their Long Island City project at 25-11 49th Avenue. They closed on the warehouse purchase for $39.1 million after 17 months in contract and plan to convert it into office space. Out of the $81 million, $30 million went toward the purchase, while the rest will be used for construction costs. The new project will be 11 stories tall and span 238,000 square feet. It’s slated for completion by the summer of 2019.

7) You down with PNC? — $63.7 million
PNC Bank loaned Jamestown $63.7 million for its purchase of 260 East 161st Street in the South Bronx. The company purchased the office-and-retail building for approximately $115 million, and tenants include Chipotle, Starbucks and the Legal Aid Society.

8) Préstamo Popular — $63 million
February’s eighth largest financing was a $63 loan from Banco Popular to Samuel Sherman’s FSNR Acquisition Group. Sherman, a large nursing home operator, borrowed against 9517 Avenue J in Canarsie and 22 other properties, most of which are on a trio of neighboring blocks.

Some of the sites are vacant, while others contain single-family homes and an adult care facility.

9) Forbidden Forest City — $61 million
Whiteacres Loan, a subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, loaned its parent company $61 million for 132 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn, along with a pair of other buildings. It replaced a previous loan, which packaged by Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding and sold as part of a Bear Stearns 2007 commercial mortgage-backed securities deal.

10) Acquestted Development — $58.9 million
February’s list closed out with a roughly $58.9 million loan from Wells Fargo to Acquest Development for an industrial building at 2350 Lafayette Avenue in the Bronx’s Castle Hill neighborhood.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that there would be a Holiday Inn at the MCR Development project.

Largest outer boro loans recorded in February 2018
RankAddressLoan amountBorrowerLenderNeighborhood
11368 New York Avenue and others$246 millionClipper RealtyNew York Community BankFlatbush Gardens
2154-68 Brookville Boulevard$230 millionMCR DevelopmentPort Authority of New York & New Jersey, M&T BankOzone Park
3123 Linden Boulevard$137 millionMoinian GroupMoinian Group BrondholdersFlatbush
4Victoria Towers at 133-38 Sanford Avenue; 41-60 Main Street$94 millionJeffrey WuBluestone Group which assigned to Madison Realty Capital which assigned to Milstein family's Emigrant Realty FinanceFlushing
5Bulova Corporate Center at 75-20 Astoria Boulevard$88 milllionBlumenfeld DevelopmentNYS Common Retirement Fund (pension fund)East Elmhurst
625-11 49th Avenue$81 millionNormandy Real Estate Partners, Keystone EquitiesDeutsche BankLong Island City
7260 East 161st Street$63.7 millionJamestownPNC BankSouth Bronx
8 9517 Avenue J and 22 other properties$63 millionSamuel Sherman's FSNR Acquisition GroupBanco PopularCanarsie
9132 Flatbush Avenue Extension and two other buildings$61 millionForest City Realty TrustForest City Realty Trust subsidiary Whiteacres Loan AcquisitionDowntown Brooklyn
102350 Lafayette Avenue$58.9 millionAcquest DevelopmentWells FargoCastle Hill
Source: The Real Deal analysis of NYC Dept. of Finance loans recorded in February 2018. Refinance deals with the same lender, mortgage spreader agreements or extensions were not included.