Tishman Speyer scores loan on Santa Monica portfolio

New York investment gets $228M from Blackstone

Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer and Blackstone Mortgage Trust CEO Katie Keenan (Tishman Speyer, Blackstone, iStock)
Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer and Blackstone Mortgage Trust CEO Katie Keenan (Tishman Speyer, Blackstone, iStock)

Tishman Speyer scored a loan to build apartments on its new land in Santa Monica, The Real Deal has learned.

The New York-based developer got a $228 million loan from Blackstone Mortgage Trust, to build 620 apartments on eight sites Tishman bought in January, records show. The debt was provided in January but has not been previously reported. Blackstone declined to comment.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided the loan through Husky Finco — a limited liability company affiliated with the REIT.

WSC Communities – controlled by Neil Shekhter, his sons and CEO Scott Walter – had put 23 parcels in Santa Monica on the market last year. Tishman swooped in late last year and bought eight of the sites for around $150 million, prompting Shekhter to take the 15 remaining parcels off the market.

Tishman announced in January that it would build new multifamily buildings across the eight sites, as well as 31,000 square feet of retail space — 116 of the units will be classified as affordable.

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The eight plots are: 1318 Lincoln Boulevard, 1430 Lincoln Boulevard, 1650 Lincoln Boulevard, 501 Broadway, 711 Colorado Avenue, 1313 6th Street, 1323 5th Street and 1338 5th Street.

The project will be the company’s first foray into residential real estate in Los Angeles.

It’s not the first time the two have worked together on financing deals. In 2018, Blackstone provided $1.8 billion in financing for Tishman Speyer’s 2.8 million-square-foot office building in Hudson Yards.

The lender, which focuses on providing loans for commercial real estate properties, including multifamily, has also financed other projects in Santa Monica. In 2019, Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided Redcar Properties with a $70.3 million loan in connection with six parcels along Michigan Avenue in Santa Monica, records show.