Robert Weisz’s RPW Group locked in a $240 million loan from Blackstone Group and SL Green Realty to purchase the 44-story office tower at 275 Madison Avenue in Midtown, sources told The Real Deal.
The Westchester County-based landlord closed Friday on the $270 million purchase of the landmarked 336,000-square-foot tower at East 40th Street, the firm said. It entered contract to buy the property from Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding in June, as TRD first reported.
Of the $240 million floating-rate senior mortgage, $225 million was provided at the closing. The remaining $15 million will be held back for future capital expenses, said JLL’s Kellogg Gaines, who brokered the financing with colleague Aaron Appel.
Weisz confirmed the closing of the purchase, but declined to comment on the financing.
JLL’s Aaron Appel
A separate JLL team led by Richard Baxter, Yoron Cohen, Glenn Tolchin and Anthony Ledesma brokered the building purchase, which closed for $800 per square foot.
The property is 91 percent occupied, though nearly half of the tower’s leased office space is set to expire over the next five years. Cushman & Wakefield, which occupies 40,000 square feet, is not set to vacate until 2030, when its lease expires.
The deal is the latest financing alliance between Blackstone and SL Green, who just provided a $376 million loan to a partnership led by Kushner Companies, CIM Group and LIVWRK for the purchase of the Watchtower Building at 25-30 Columbia Heights in Dumbo. SL Green led that financing, while Blackstone is the lead on the 275 Madison deal, sources said.
Many New York developers sensing an opportunity in the market have thrown themselves into the lending business, as TRD reported in July.