As traditional banks tighten the purse strings, Jared Kushner is seeing through a commitment to establish his firm as a peer-to-peer lender. A debt fund under the Kushner Companies umbrella provided a $33 million loan to Toby Moskovits’ Heritage Equity Partners for a new mixed-use office-and-retail project at 215 Moore Street, according to records filed with the city Monday.
The financing from Kushner Credit Opportunity Fund will replace a prior senior mortgage from Richmond Hill Investment Company. Neither Moskovits [TRDataCustom] nor Kushner immediately responded to requests for comment.
Heritage’s latest plans for the site include 75,000 square feet of light industrial, office and retail space geared toward tech, creative and food production tenants.
Kushner has been making moves in the debt business this year as traditional financing for condominium and hotel projects has dried up. Earlier this year, the company became the mezzanine lender on JDS Development Group and Chetrit Group’s mixed-use project at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn.
Laurent Morali, president of Kushner, previously told The Real Deal that the firm is eyeing New York deals valued at $30 million or above.
“We realized getting into lending would allow us to still invest while getting attractive risk-adjusted returns,” he said. “By being a lender, we can stay active in a market that doesn’t necessarily always agree with our equity valuations.”
Heritage purchased the Bushwick site, which runs along Seigel and Moore streets, for $28.3 million in December 2014.
In its July issue, TRD explored the risks and rewards the developers face as they lend to peers.