Zeckendorfs, Atlas nab $322M from Blackstone for West Side condo tower

Financing will go toward land deal for $1.3B, two-tower project at 570 Washington Street

Arthur Zeckendorf (Getty)
Arthur Zeckendorf (Getty)

UPDATED July 15, 2022, 11:43 a.m.: The Zeckendorfs’ next splashy condo project just got a major financing package from Blackstone.

A joint venture comprised of Zeckendorf Development, Atlas Capital and the Baupost Group secured a $322 million loan from the investment giant to acquire a full-block site at 570 Washington Street, just south of the West Village between Clarkson and Houston streets, for a $1.25 billion, two-tower luxury development.

Zeckendorf and Atlas struck a deal to buy the 1.3-acre site off the West Side Highway from Westbrook Partners for $340 million in February, reportedly beating out heavy hitters including Miki Naftali, Gary Barnett’s Extell Development and Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust. The deal closed July 8, records show.

Baupost Group’s involvement in the project has not been previously reported. A Newmark team led by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub arranged the financing. Michael Eglit, head of U.S. originations for Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, said in a statement that the developers are “well positioned to deliver a unique, high-quality project.”

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Cookfox Architects is finalizing designs for the towers, which will rise 450 feet next to 550 Washington Street, the office building that Google acquired for $2.1 billion last year.

Brothers Arthur and William Zeckendorf, the third generation of a Manhattan real estate dynasty, made a name for themselves in Midtown with condo projects at 15 Central Park West and 520 Park Avenue, which are home to some of the city’s priciest residences. Arthur’s son, Artie, is also a partner on the project.

Atlas Capital, led by Jeffrey Goldberger and Andrew Cohen, spent half a billion dollars last year to buy the Denizen apartment complex in Williamsburg out of bankruptcy from Yoel Goldman’s All Year Management.

Boston-based Baupost has been active in the city as well, most recently selling the American Copper Buildings in Murray Hill, which the firm co-owned with Michael Stern’s JDS Development, for approximately $850 million in December.

This article was updated to include a reference to the joint venture closing on its $340 million land deal for the condo project, which was recorded in the city register July 15.