WeWork lands biggest Manhattan real estate loan in February

Here are the other top financing deals last month

424-434 Fifth Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)
424-434 Fifth Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)

The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in February totaled just over $1.2 billion, less than half recorded in January and the lowest total since March 2018. The top loan in February went towards WeWork’s $850 million purchase of its new headquarters at 424 Fifth Avenue.

1) WeBorrow – $389 million-plus
After months of delays, WeWork Property Advisors closed on its $850 million acquisition of the Lord & Taylor flagship at 424 Fifth Avenue at the end of January. The entity, an investment vehicle managed by the We Company and private equity firm Rhône Group, financed the deal with a loan from from JPMorgan Chase, Starwood Property Trust and a third unknown lender. Reported to be worth $900 million in total, $389 million of that debt was recorded in city records last month. The seller was Canadian retailer the Hudson’s Bay Company, which took a $125 million minority stake in the building.

2) Landesbank to Landesbank – $167.5 million
German state-owned bank Landesbank Baden-Würtemberg (LBBW) provided a $167.5 million loan to Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates to refinance their cubic glass office building at 61 Ninth Avenue. The debt replaced a $90 million construction loan from another German state bank, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen or Helaba. The Rafael Viñoly-designed building was once slated to be home to Aetna’s global headquarters, but those plans were scrapped after the health insurer was bought out by CVS for $69 billion. Aetna is now looking to sublet the space, where asking rents were previously reported to be at $150 per square foot.

3) Truffle hunt – $140 million
The Related Companies secured $140 million in financing for its $260 million purchase of the Truffles Tribeca, a 291-unit luxury apartment building at 34 Desbrosses Street. The lenders were JPMorgan Asset Management and LBBW. Related acquired the building from the Jack Parker Corporation, which hired Newmark Knight Frank to market its entire New York portfolio. The company has also sold off the Parker Towers complex in Queens and the Biltmore in Midtown in recent months.

4) A new dawn – $120 million
Capital One provided $120 million in financing for the office condominium at EŌS, the Durst Organization’s mixed-used rental tower at 855 Sixth Avenue. That office space is home to Nike’s East Coast office, and features a library, two terraces, a fitness studio, and a basketball court. EŌS, named after the Greek goddess of the dawn, has 375 rental units, 20 percent of which are affordable.

5) Maiden voyage – $85 million
Richard Lou’s LCRE Group landed a $85 million loan from Shanghai Commercial Bank for its 33-story Marriott-branded South Street Seaport hotel at 151 Maiden Lane. A year ago, LCRE was reported to be looking for up to $100 million to refinance its $53 million construction loan on the 274-room hotel, which was also provided by SCB in 2016. Hong Kong-based SCB has been an active hotel lender in recent years, and also made January’s top 10 lists for both Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

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6) Dormant dormitory – $78 million
Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies provided $78 million in financing for GFP Real Estate and Meadow Partners’s purchase and redevelopment of the empty building at 301 First Avenue, which the developers plan to convert into student housing. The seller, CIM Group, had acquired the 24-story tower from Mount Sinai Beth Israel in 2017 with plans to redevelop it into rentals or condos, but plans were never filed and the building has remained vacant.

7) Raber movement – $71 million
Raber Enterprises secured a $71 million refinancing from Morgan Stanley for its Crowne Plaza hotel at 320 West 36th Street, replacing construction debt from M&T Bank dating from 2015. The 26-story, 249-room Garment District hotel was built on the site of a former parking garage, and is less than half a mile away from Manhattan’s other Crowne Plaza in Times Square. Raber Enterprises, a development company led by Lance Steinberg and Frank Chan, is also behind the Even Hotel at 219 East 44th Street.

8) DebtLife – $56 million
MetLife Real Estate Lending provided a $56 million mortgage to SJP Properties and Prudential Financial for their recently-acquired Midtown South office building at 470 Park Avenue South. The companies acquired the 17-story 300,000-square-foot building in December for $245 million, with SJP as the managing partner. SJP says it will first focus on leasing a full-floor, pre-built space to be marketed to technology and creative companies.

9) Pan Am Era – $52 million
The Manocherian family’s Pan Am Equities landed a $52 million mortgage from Allegiant Capital Funding for its $90 million acquisition of 103 East 86th Street, a 50-unit Upper East Side rental building. The seller was Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge Partners, which had acquired the building for $76 million in late 2012. The new debt replaces a $38 million loan from TD Bank in 2017.

10) CAPs Bay – $50 million
The Bank of New York Mellon provided a $50 million financing package to Ogden CAP Properties for Windsor Court, a 31-story, 709-unit rental tower at 151 East 31 Street in Kips Bay, according to city records. The Milstein family built the property, now one of New York’s highest-earning rental complexes, in 1988. Following a split within the family, Philip and Connie Milstein founded Ogden Cap to manage their share of the family portfolio, which included Windsor Court.