MKF Realty lined up a loan from Fannie Mae to close on its purchase of Related Companies’ One Union Square South, in one of the largest multifamily deals to go through since the start of the pandemic.
The Midtown-based firm, acting as an advisor for a multigenerational family investor, is set to close next week on its purchase of the mixed-use, 240-unit building for $218 million, sources familiar with the sale told The Real Deal.
Fannie Mae is providing about $120 million to finance the acquisition, according to sources.
Meridian’s Helen Hwang
Meridian’s David Schechtman
Representatives for MKF, Related and Fannie Mae could not be immediately reached for comment. A Meridian investment sales team of Helen Hwang and Brian Szczapa negotiated the sale. Meridian’s David Schechtman and Brian Gladstone procured the buyer. Meridian also arranged the financing.
The deal, which went into contract over the summer, is one of the biggest multifamily sales to go through since the pandemic hit in March.
Multifamily investment firm Black Spruce Management recently bought a portfolio of apartment buildings near the northern end of Central Park for about $200 million. And a partnership between Dalan Management and KKR has started to close portions of a roughly $800 million portfolio of rental buildings in Brooklyn from Bruman Realty.
At the 27-story, 174,000-square-foot One Union Square South, 20 percent of the building’s residential units are regulated under the terms of a 421a agreement that’s set to expire in the near term. MKF is working to extend the tax exemption for another 15 years.
Related developed the building, which sits at the southeastern edge of its namesake park, in 1998. One Union Square South is easily recognizable by the “Metronome” public artwork that Related commissioned from artists Kristen Jones and Andrew Ginzel. It also includes a retail component leased to tenants Best Buy, Nordstrom Rack and Regal Cinemas, which recently announced it will temporarily close all 543 of its theaters across the country because of losses from the pandemic.
The family purchasing the property through MKF is said to be buying it to hold for a multigenerational timeframe.