Vanbarton Group scores $240M Blackstone refi for 980 6th Avenue

The financing was organized by Cushman & Wakefield

980 Avenue of the Americas and Vanbarton Group's Richard Coles and Gary Tischler (Credit: Google Maps)
980 Avenue of the Americas and Vanbarton Group's Richard Coles and Gary Tischler (Credit: Google Maps)

UPDATED, Thursday, March 6, 2020, 3:17 pm: Vanbarton Group has secured a $240 million refinancing from Blackstone for its mixed-use Hollingsworth building at 980 Sixth Avenue.

The loan, dated Feb. 27, comprises a senior loan note totaling $212 million, a building-loan note of about $15.5 million and a project-loan note of about $12.4 million, according to public records. Mezzanine debt is not recorded in public documents, meaning the total may be higher. Blackstone declined to comment.

The financing was put together by a Cushman & Wakefield team led by Gideon Gil, who did not immediately respond to questions about the deal.

Vanbarton bought the 400,000-square-foot building in 2018 for $316 million and secured a $205 million mortgage from Brookfield’s debt fund.

The final sale price was a significant discount from the $400 million asking price when it first hit the market in 2017.

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The 24-story building, which occupies the entire east block between West 36th and West 37th streets, features retail space at the ground level topped with several floors of office space — leased by WeWork since January — as well as 320 residential units.

The property was built in 1987 by Isidore Karten, who left it to his three adult children, Harry Karten, Marcia Toledano and Bernice Bookhammer, when he died in 1999.

Write to Sylvia Varnham O’Regan at so@therealdeal.com

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify the name of the building at 980 Sixth Avenue. Once known as The Vogue, it was renamed the Hollingsworth in 2018.