West Side story: Manhattan’s largest January real estate loans

The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in January totaled $2.6 billion, less than half of December’s total. The island’s burgeoning Far West Side dominated the top of the rankings, with financing for two luxury rental towers and the soon-to-open Hudson Yards Observation Deck taking the top three spots.

1. West Side 62-Story | $479 million
Brookfield Property Partners and the Qatar Investment Authority refinanced the residential portion of their Manhattan West rental tower, the Eugene, with this loan from Bank of China. The 62-story tower at 3 Manhattan West, or 435 West 31st Street, was completed in 2017 and is the city’s tallest rental building. The skyscraper has 844 apartments, 169 of which have below-market rents, with retail space on the lower four levels.

2. West Side 56-Story | $400 million
As part of a deal covering three of its Manhattan properties, Extell Development secured this senior financing from Citigroup for 555 Tenth Avenue, a 600-unit luxury rental tower with a school at its base. Citi provided another $85 million in senior debt for two seven-story rental developments at 500 and 524 East 14th Street, while Rexmark originated $215 million in mezzanine loans for the three properties.

3. Edge of tomorrow | $375 million
The Related Companies refinanced the observation deck condominium at 30 Hudson Yards with this loan from TCG Senior Funding LLC, a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group. The 7,500-square-foot deck, dubbed “the Edge”, is the tallest outdoor deck in the Western Hemisphere and the fifth tallest in the world. The attraction will officially open on March 11, with on-site general admission tickets costing $38.

4. RefinancING | $372 million
ING Capital provided this loan for Clarion Partners and MHP Real Estate Services’ 180 Maiden Lane, a Financial District office building. The five-year refinancing stemmed from a repositioning of the 90 percent-leased property. Clarion and MHP bought the 41-story office building for $470 million in 2015, and Blackstone Group financed the purchase with a $247.5 million loan

5. North meets West | $221 million
Northwood Investors refinanced the Midtown office building at 1180 Sixth Avenue with a $220.5 million loan from Los Angeles-based Mesa West Capital. Northwood acquired the 22-story property from HNA Group for $305 million in 2018 during the Chinese conglomerate’s fire sale of its $16 billion global asset portfolio. That acquisition was financed with a $236.6 million loan from the Royal Bank of Canada.

6. The more things Chang | $210 million
S3 Capital Partners, an arm of Spruce Capital Partners, lent $250 million to hotel developer Sam Chang for his upcoming project at 150 West 48th Street near Times Square, including $210 million in senior debt and a $40 million mezzanine tranche. The 974-key project will be the city’s largest new hotel in 35 years. Long known as the city’s budget hotel king, Chang told the Wall Street Journal last year that he would retire to focus on pigeon racing.

7. Unizout | $150 million
BentallGreenOak landed a $200 million financing package, including $150 million in senior debt, from Heitman for its acquisition of the leasehold interest in Unizo Holdings’ 685 Third Avenue. The 650,000-square-foot Midtown office building was Tokyo-based Unizo’s final Manhattan property. Ground lease REIT Safehold acquired the fee interest in the property for $180 million as part of the deal.

8. Fairfax finance | $145 million
M&T Realty Capital, a division of M&T Bank, provided this refinancing for TF Cornerstone’s luxury rental building at 201 East 69th Street in Lenox Hill, also known as the Fairfax. The 300-unit property was once home to the FBI’s New York City headquarters.

9. Flatiron funding | $140 million
Benjamin Winter’s Winter Management secured this loan from Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York to refinance 111-115 Fifth Avenue, a four-building office complex in the Flatiron District. The property, formerly home to the Arnold Constable department store, now counts online sock designer Bombas and brokerage Douglas Elliman among its tenants.

10. Shvoriental | $120 million
Michael Shvo and his partners Deutsche Finance and Bilgili Group landed this construction loan from CIM Group for 685 Fifth Avenue. The developers plan to convert the 100,000-square-foot office portion of the property into 69 luxury condos, which will constitute the country’s first standalone Mandarin Oriental residence. The team purchased the property in 2018 for $135 million and will add 10 floors to the building, making it 30 stories tall.