These were the largest Manhattan real estate loans in March

Single-asset CMBS deals for Midtown office towers topped the list

1440 Broadway and One Park Avenue (Google Maps, Vornado)
1440 Broadway and One Park Avenue (Google Maps, Vornado)

The 10 largest Manhattan real estate loans recorded in March totaled $1.95 billion, more than double February’s total and about the same as January’s.

For the fifth time since September, the commercial mortgage-backed securities market produced the month’s largest loans. The top two deals, both single-asset CMBS loans for Midtown office buildings, accounted for nearly half of the total dollar volume of the top ten.

Here were the borough’s largest real estate loans in March:

1) Roth CMBS | $525 million

Vornado Realty Trust and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board secured a $525 million refinancing for One Park Avenue, a 22-story office tower. The five-year, single-asset CMBS debt was provided by Deutsche Bank and Barclays. New York University’s Langone Medical Center inked a 633,000-square-foot lease renewal at the property in October.

2) CIMBS | $392 million

CIM Group and Australian pension fund QSuper refinanced the 740,000-square-foot office building at 1440 Broadway with a $392 million CMBS loan from JPMorgan Chase. CIM acquired the 25-story tower in 2017 as part of New York REIT’s liquidation, and has since increased its occupancy from 50 to 93 percent by bringing in tenants like WeWork, which leases space to two Fortune 500 enterprise tenants at the building.

3) Bank to bank | $198 million

Wells Fargo provided a $198 million refinancing for the 23-story office building at 125 West 55th Street in the Plaza District. The property is owned by JPMorgan Asset Management and Waterman Interests, who formed a joint venture for the property in 2014. JPMorgan put the property on the market last January, seeking a valuation of about $550 million. Tenants include the Australian investment bank Macquarie Group and iHeartRadio.

4) ReFrak | $150 million

Wells Fargo, which originated four of the month’s top 10 loans, provided $150 million to LeFrak to refinance 40 West 57th Street in the Plaza District, home to the landlord’s headquarters. The new debt replaced a $150 million loan provided by Capital One in 2013.

5) Columbus collateral | $149 million

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Colorado-based REIT UDR secured a $149 million loan from Wells Fargo to refinance the residential portion of 808 Columbus Avenue, a 359-unit rental tower on the Upper West Side. The property is part of the five-building Columbus Square complex. Wells Fargo also provided two smaller loans for other buildings in the complex, bringing the total to $197.5 million.

6) Loan science | $139 million

Jackson National Life Insurance Company provided a $139 million loan to Taconic Partners, Nuveen and LaSalle Investment Management for 125 West End Avenue, a 400,000-square-foot life sciences hub on the Upper West Side. The landlords reportedly landed $393 million in construction financing for the property as part of a $600 million recapitalization, but that has yet to be reflected in public records.

7) Yard maintenance | $108 million

Wells Fargo provided a $107.5 million inventory loan for 99 residential and two commercial units at 15 Hudson Yards, owned by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group. Sales at the 285-unit condo building launched in 2016. The new debt replaces an $850 million construction loan from 2015 provided by New York State Housing Finance Agency and the Children’s Investment Fund.

8) Lent to the Kent | $105 million

Extell Development also received a condo inventory loan last month. The landlord secured a $105 million mortgage from Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and GTIS Partners for 49 unsold units at the Kent, a 104-unit, 30-story condo tower at 200 East 95th Street on the Upper East Side.

9) Potamkin mortgage | $95 million

Athene Annuity and Life Company provided a $95 million loan for 706 11th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, a two-story retail building owned by the auto dealer Potamkin Group. The new financing more than doubles the debt on the property, replacing $44 million in loans previously provided by AmeriCredit Financial Services.

10) Dunbar debt | $86 million

Fairstead refinanced the 538-unit Dunbar Apartments complex in Central Harlem with an $86 million loan from MF1 Capital, a mortgage REIT backed by CBRE Capital Markets, Limekiln Real Estate and Berkshire Group. The new debt replaces $85 million provided by American General Life Insurance Company in 2018.