Durst scores $100M loan for 825 Third

JPMorgan Chase provided loan on 40-story office building

825 Third Avenue in Manhattan in NYC with Durst Organization financial associate Lucas Durst (LinkedIn, 825 Third Avenue)
825 Third Avenue in Manhattan in NYC with Durst Organization financial associate Lucas Durst(LinkedIn, 825 Third Avenue)

The Durst Organization received a nine-figure infusion at 825 Third Avenue.

JPMorgan Chase provided a $100 million loan at the 40-story office building in Midtown East, , according to property records released last week. The loan is for three years.

Lucas Durst, Jonathan Durst’s son and an associate with the company, signed the loan documents. Lucas said in a statement reported by the Commercial Observer the loan helps to pay for a $150 million renovation of the building.

“The proceeds will help back-pay for building improvements that have already been made and for [tenant improvements] and other improvements as we lease up the building,” Lucas said. Those improvements include updates to the facade, lobby and elevators, as well as the installation of smart windows at a cost of $50,000 per panel.

The loan marks the latest turn for Durst at the building, which the firm was shopping several years ago. The company hoped to find an investor to take the building off its hands, but ended up pulling it from the market in 2018; a CBRE team led by Darcy Stacom was marketing the building.

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A year later, the building became vacant when Advance Publications’ long-term lease expired. Durst began leasing the building again this year, the Observer reported, and asking rents have ranged from $78 to $98 per square foot.

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Durst scored a similar loan from JPMorgan in 2017 as part of a $1 billion debt package on five properties, according to the Observer.

JPMorgan has been handing out some sizable loans in recent months. In January, the bank provided $315 million in mortgage loan proceeds to Steve Witkoff and Len Blavatnik to help them complete the stalled XI luxury condo development at 76 11th Avenue on the High Line in West Chelsea. At the time of the loan, JPMorgan held a total debt amount of $915 million on the project.

Durst scored a major win in the office market weeks ago, when technology services provider Global Relay USA signed a lease of more than 77,000 square feet at 1155 Sixth Avenue.

The asking rent for four of the floors was $115 per square foot, while the top floor went for $150 per square foot. It could be instructive for Durst, as that building recently underwent its only $130 million makeover.