Kushner, RFR refinance Dumbo Heights with $480M loan

Kushner Companies, RFR Holding and LIVWRK are refinancing the Dumbo Heights office complex in Brooklyn with a $480M loan, sources told The Real Deal.

Citi Real Estate Finance is providing the debt, which will replace a loan in the amount of $425 million issued by the bank just last year. Sources said the deal was direct and did not involve mortgage brokers and that the owners had become eligible for a larger loan after hitting leasing targets following last year’s buyout of partner Invesco’s stake in the property. The loan closed Thursday.

A spokesperson for Kushner Companies declined to comment. RFR’s Michael Fuchs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  DebtWire previously reported that the partners and Citi planned a CMBS securitization for part of the loan. Details of the refinancing were sent to Democratic members of the Senate, who had been asking Citi questions about last year’s debt deal with Kushner Companies at Dumbo Heights and potential conflicts of interest.

In February, charter school Brooklyn Lab leased 81,000 square feet at the property where it plans to establish a new school. Major office tenants at the five-building Dumbo Heights complex include WeWork, Etsy and Alexis Bittar, although one building, 175 Pearl Street, is now majority owned by Normandy Real Estate Partners.

Last year, Kushner and RFR led a buyout of Invesco’s approximately 90 percent stake in the complex. Kushner and RFR now each hold 47.5 percent interests in Dumbo Heights with the remaining portion owned by LIVWRK.

In June, however, Kushner pulled up stakes in an ambitious development project at nearby 85 Jay Street, opting to sell its interest to CIM Group after already obtaining a $600 million construction loan.