Bank OZK lends Tishman $275M for LIC office development

WeWork is anchoring the two-tower, 1.1 million sf project

A rendering of 28-10 Queens Plaza South and Rob Speyer (Credit: Getty Images)
A rendering of 28-10 Queens Plaza South and Rob Speyer (Credit: Getty Images)

Developer Tishman Speyer is borrowing $275 million from Bank OZK to complete its 1.1 million-square-foot office development in Long Island City.

The debt for the “JACX” complex was provided in two separate mortgages, loan documents recorded by the city on Wednesday show. The new debt package comes two years after the developer first secured financing with OZK, then Bank of the Ozarks, along with an equity investment from Diar, a subsidiary of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund. Tishman was also said to be looking for additional funding from the EB-5 visa program at the time and the reported total costs of construction was about $700 million.

A representative for Tishman did not respond to a request for comment.

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Plans for the office development at 28-10 Queens Plaza South include two 27-story towers, which Tishman has said are already 75 percent leased. WeWork signed on for 250,000 square feet in the tower in 2016. The building is expected to be complete by the end of 2019, and August photos posted on City Realty show both towers are already rather far along.

Rob Speyer, Tishman’s CEO, told Commercial Observer earlier this month that he expects Amazon’s decision to bring half of its HQ2 to Long Island City to be a boon to his office and residential developments there, which includes more than 1,800 new apartments.

“The Amazon deal will help every piece of real estate in Long Island City,” he said. “Every office building, every hotel, every restaurant, every store.”