December’s largest outer-borough loans serve as an admittedly small rebuttal to the narrative of dying shopping malls.
Large loans for two Brooklyn malls made the list: $487 million for Macerich’s Kings Plaza Shopping Center (No. 1) and $80.4 million for Blackstone Group’s Canarsie Plaza (No. 7).
Other notable deals included $152 million for the Long Island City life-sciences complex of GFP Real Estate and King Street Properties, and $148 million for a Chetrit Group multifamily development in Jamaica.
The list comprised five loans in Brooklyn, four in Queens and one in the Bronx. No Staten Island loans cracked the top 10.
The full list of the 10 largest outer-borough loans for December:
1. Fit for a Kings Plaza — $487 million
Retail giant Macerich inked a $487 million refinancing for its Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Brooklyn, despite a rough market for malls. The money, from JPMorgan Chase, includes about $60 million in new financing. Macerich bought the Mill Basin mall from Vornado in 2012 for $751 million.
2. GFP in LIC — $152 million
GFP Real Estate and King Street Properties landed a roughly $152 million loan from Acore Capital for their new Long Island City life-sciences complex. The project, at 45-18 Court Square, will stand six stories and span about 267,000 square feet. GFP and King Street broke ground on the project last month.
3. Fair and Square Mile Capital — $148 million
Square Mile Capital lent the Chetrit Group $148 million for the multifamily development it is planning on the Mary Immaculate Hospital site in Jamaica. The four-building complex will include 481 units and be based at 150-13 89th Avenue. Chetrit bought the site in 2009 for about $4.8 million. It offers more than 415,000 buildable square feet.
4. Old and Greystone — $136 million
Greystone & Co. lent an LLC linked to Leopold Friedman about $136 million for his nursing-home and assisted-living properties in University Heights at 100 West Kingsbridge Road, 2545 University Avenue and 2553 University Avenue. The Kingsbridge Road property is known as The Plaza Rehab & Nursing Center, while the University Avenue properties are both linked to the New Jewish Home.
5. The Royal Kestenbaums — $97.5 million
A&E Real Estate Holdings landed a $97.5 million loan from Deutsche Bank for its purchase of the Kestenbaum family’s Rego Park properties. A&E bought the portfolio for $129.5 million in November. It includes 539 residential units across 568,276 square feet and comes with 238,262 buildable square feet. The had Kestenbaums put the portfolio on the market for $210 million in February, four months before Albany shook the multifamily market with a new rent-stabilization law.
6. Every Rose Has Its Thorn — $95 million
Bermuda-based retirement-services company Athene Holding lent Jonathan Rose Companies $95 million for 146 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights. The residential building is known as the Pierrepont. It stands 21 stories, has 90 units and was just completed last year, according to StreetEasy.
7. Paint It Blackstone — $80.4 million
Another Brooklyn mall made the list thanks to Blackstone Group receiving an $80.4 million loan from PNC Bank for its purchase of Canarsie Plaza. Blackstone bought the shopping center from CIM Group in December for about $130 million. The development spans 274,000 square feet and is anchored by BJ’s Wholesale, which takes up about 173,000 square feet. Other tenants include Planet Fitness and PetSmart.
8. Titans of Industry City — $58.5 million
A portion of the massive Industry City refinancing from Blackstone took the No. 8 spot. The Sunset Park campus’ owners Jamestown Properties, Belvedere Capital, Angelo Gordon & Co., Cammeby’s International and FBE Limited received a $720 million refinancing package that was led by Blackstone and also included Bank of China, Deutsche Bank and SL Green. The deal replaced a 2017 loan worth $647 million.
9. Feeling Charitable — $55 million
Catholic Charities of Brooklyn & Queens landed a $55 million loan from Greystone for its Astoria property at 31-41 23rd Street, known as the Catherine Sheridan Senior Center.
10. Sunset Park Boulevard — $47.8 million
December’s list closes out with a roughly $47.8 million loan from JPMorgan Chase to Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue Committee for an affordable housing development based at 6309 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park. The nonprofit organization bought the site in December for about $5.2 million.