GID in talks for $1B loan for Riverside Center towers

GID is negotiating with Wells Fargo and other banks to secure a loan of more than $1 billion for three towers at the Riverside Center development, Crain’s reported. 

The Boston-based development firm led by James Linsley purchased the 92,878-square-foot site, located at 40 Riverside Boulevard, on the Hudson River west of Columbus Circle, for $410.8 million earlier this year, in a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The discussions are occurring amid a flurry of big-ticket development loan activity. Insurance giant AIG, along with Apollo Global Management, provided a loan of $725 million to JDS Development and Property Markets Group in late June for the Billionaires’ Row condo at 111 West 57th Street. Back in May, JPMorgan Chase partnered with BlackRock and SL Green Realty to loan $1 billion to HFZ Capital Group for the purchase of 519 West 18th Street.

Some major lenders again seem bullish on New York’s luxury condo development after a period of uncertainty. Not all fears have dissipated though, as these partnership structures indicate. Both these loans, along with many others, included a mezzanine finance component to shield senior lender’s exposure.