Vornado, Aurora secure $90M loan to build 61 Ninth

World’s largest Starbucks to anchor new 164K sf Meatpacking building

Rendering of 61 Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District (inset: Rafael Vinoly)
Rendering of 61 Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District (inset: Rafael Vinoly)

Vornado Realty Trust and Bobby Cayre’s Aurora Capital Associates obtained a $90 million construction loan for its 164,000-square-foot Meatpacking District office-and-retail project at 61 Ninth Avenue, which will house the largest Starbucks Coffee store in the world.

Germany-based bank Helaba and Midtown-based financing holding company CIT Group provided a five-year, floating-rate loan Thursday to the developers, according to JLL, which arranged the deal.

From left: Dustin Stolly and Aaron Appel

The Rafael Vinoly-designed Class A property, which will have ceiling heights of more than 14 feet, is already under construction. It’s slated for completion by late 2017.

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JLL’s Dustin Stolly and Aaron Appel brokered the financing deal.

A spokesperson for Vornado declined to comment, while Aurora could not be immediately reached.

Starbucks signed a 20-year lease in April to occupy the 20,000-square-foot retail component at the base of the building for its Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room concept. Asking rent on the ground floor was about $650 per square foot. No office tenants have signed for the building’s remaining space yet.

Vornado and Aurora acquired the long-term lease on the former Prince Lumber site near West 15th Street in 2014 for $140 million.