Less than a year after it bailed on a $300 million condominium plan, Chinese developer CL Investment Group is moving forward with the renovation of existing offices at 287 Park Avenue South, having scored a $55 million construction financing package, records filed with the city Wednesday show.
The lender, Taiwan-based Hua Nan Commercial Bank, extended the debt across three separate loans.
CL, formerly known as CheerLand, bought the office building at 287 Park Avenue South in 2014 for $128 million. It first intended to convert the property to residential, filing a 40-unit condo offering with units averaging about $7 million a pop. A penthouse was said to have a $17.5 million ask. The company scrapped the condo plan in November and announced that it would instead keep the building commercial.
The property at 287 Park Avenue South, also known as the United Charities Building, was built in 1893 and declared a national historic landmark in 1991.
In February, CL sold a one-third stake in Ben Shaoul’s condo conversion at 385 First Avenue, another sign that the company remains bearish on condo development in New York.