Triple Star Realty refis Flushing dev site with $47M loan

RWN Management modified acquisition loan and provided additional predevelopment financing

Andy Zhu and a rendering of 131-01 39th Avenue
Andy Zhu and a rendering of 131-01 39th Avenue

The developer behind one of Flushing’s largest mixed-use projects extended the term on the site’s original acquisition loan and brought in additional predevelopment funds.

Triple Star Realty refinanced its mixed-use waterfront development site at 131-01 39th Avenue with $46.7 million in interim financing from RWN Management, according to property records filed with the city Tuesday.

RWN, an investment adviser, modified the $42 million acquisition loan it provided to Triple Star when the developer acquired the site in 2015 for $78 million, and floated additional financing to cover predevelopment costs at the site.

Meridian Capital Group’s Morris Betesh

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Representatives for Triple Star could not be reached for comment, and a representative for RWN declined to comment. The deal was negotiated by former Cushman & Wakefield brokers Morris Betesh and Daniel Belecen, who have since left to head a debt-brokerage team at Meridian Capital Group. The brokers declined to comment.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Triple Star, headed by Andy Zhu, would begin looking for construction financing for the site. When the company bought it in 2015, Zhu was reportedly planning to enter the market for a construction loan within three to six months, but the developer never locked down construction financing.

The company filed for demolition permits at the site last year. The developer plans to build a mixed-use complex with 360 residential condos, a 200-room hotel, medical office space, parking and retail, including a supermarket.

The site holds nearly 632,000 buildable square feet. It sits right next to a 3.7-acre site that developer Chris Xu bought last year for $100 million. That property, which offers roughly 870,000 buildable square feet as-of-right, is directly next to the Sky View Parc condo complex.