The top 10 Manhattan loans recorded in May totaled $3.41 billion, nearly double the prior month’s total. Two massive office refis totaling $2 billion – and both involving Wells Fargo – accounted for most of that dollar volume. All in all, six of the month’s top ten deals were for the refinancing of office space.
1) The Refinanced Companies – $1.1 billion
The Related Companies, in a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC, landed a $1.1 billion refinancing deal for the office space at Time Warner Center, with Wells Fargo acting as the administrative agent for the loan. The office space includes 1.1 million square feet occupied by the company formerly known as Time Warner – now WarnerMedia – and will become home to a new namesake tenant, Deutsche Bank, in 2021. The joint venture acquired Time Warner’s space in a sale-leaseback deal in 2013, similar to another sale-leaseback deal Related and WarnerMedia pulled off more recently at 30 Hudson Yards.
2) Condé’s last – $900 million
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo provided a $900 million refinancing package for the Durst Organization’s 4 Times Square – currently being rebranded as 151 West 42nd Street – soon after Durst leased up the last chunk of space formerly occupied by Condé Nast, which left the building in 2014 to move downtown to One World Trade Center. The new mortgage recapitalizes the property after the maturation of $650 million in CMBS financing from UBS Bank. Major post-Condé tenants at the building include Nasdaq, which now has about 169,000 square feet, and BMO Capital Markets with 215,000 square feet.
3) Floor-by-floor financing – $245 million
Edward J. Minskoff Equities secured a $245 million loan to refinance 14 of the 19 floors it owns at 1166 Sixth Avenue, a 44-story office building in Midtown. Wells Fargo was the lender. Minskoff’s firm recently renovated the building, putting $50 million into upgrades to the building’s lobby, mechanicals and elevators and securing a string of new leases. Minskoff owns office condominiums from the second through the 21st floors of the tower, and the financing covers floors 7 through 21 (there is no 13th floor) as well as part of the cellar.
4) (tied) Ritz Carlyle – $235 million
Deutsche Bank provided a $235 million loan to an affiliate of the Carlyle Group for its $251-million acquisition of a roughly two-thirds stake in the Ritz Plaza, a 1980s-era, 479-unit rental complex at 235 West 48th Street. Ivanhoe Cambridge and SL Green Realty sold their stakes to Carlyle, while Ofer Yardeni’s Stonehenge will retain its stake in the remainder of the building. Carlyle and Stonehenge plan to invest capital to renovate the building’s apartments and common areas.
4) (tied) Business is Blumen – $235 million
Blumenfeld Development Group received a $235 million refinancing package from ING Real Estate Finance for East River Plaza, a massive retail project that covers 505 East 116th Street, 545 East 116th Street, 509 East 117th Street and 520 East 117th Street on the East Harlem waterfront. Blumenfeld bought the 500,000-square-foot site in 1996, and tenants include Costco and Target. (Note: Only $195 million was recorded by the Department of City Finance.)
5) (tied) Citi and agencies – $200 million
The Karfunkel family landed $200 million in refinancing from Citigroup for its office tower at 59 Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan. The 10-year loan has a 3.99 percent fixed rate, and principal payments will not be due until it matures in May 2029. The building, located just east of the World Trade Center, is almost fully leased and mainly occupied by city agencies such as the Department of Finance, the Department of Transportation and New York City 311.
5) (tied) Feeling Lucky – $200 million
PGIM Real Estate Finance provided $200 million in refinancing for Jack Resnick and Sons’ 315 Hudson Street, an office building that will soon be home to part of Google’s new $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot Hudson Square campus. The debt carries a fixed rate and a term of 10 years, and will be used to refinance the building’s existing debt and fund a renovation that will be finished this year. Resnick has owned the 19th-century-era building since the 1960s.
8) Circling the Square – $120 million
Capital One lent $120 million to the Kaufman Organization to refinance four former Ring Portfolio buildings near Madison Square Park. The new debt replaces a $97.6 million loan provided by Singapore’s United Overseas Bank in 2016. Kaufman acquired the 99-year ground leases on the properties from Extell Development in 2014, and the portfolio is now “100 percent leased” after renovations.
9) La vie en Rose – $110 million
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America provided $110 million in refinancing to Friedland Properties and Rose Associates for their new 19-story luxury rental tower at 222 West 80th Street on the Upper West Side, also known as 2234 Broadway. The loan replaces $108 million in construction financing provided by Wells Fargo in 2015. Rental costs for some units at the property were as high as $25,000 when they hit the market last year.
10) Third time’s the charm – $102 million
Glenwood received its third Upper East Side rental refinancing from Prudential Multifamily Mortgage in the past year, with a a $102 million Fannie Mae loan for the 37-story, 490-unit 1365 York Avenue. Previously, Prudential provided a $127 million Fannie Mae loan for Glenwood’s 300 East 75th Street in March, as well as a $98 million loan for 322, 330 and 350 East 79th Street last June.