Where have you gone, Brooklyn?
Although the booming borough usually dominates The Real Deal’s list of top 10 outer borough loans, in January, it was nowhere in the top five, with the Bronx and Queens taking all of those spots instead.
A more than $300 million loan for the massive South Bronx project at La Central took the top spot on the list, followed by a $300 million loan for the 5Pointz project in Queens. Brooklyn did not show up for the first time until number six, with an $86 million loan from Bank of the Ozarks for Adam America’s condo project at 10 Nevins Street.
Brooklyn took just four spots on January’s list overall, while Queens took four as well, and the Bronx took two. The full list of top loans for January is as follows:
1. Loan Central — $309.7 million
The Bronx topped the outer borough loan list for the first time in months with a $309.7 million loan from the NYC Housing Development Corp. to Hudson Companies for the massive La Central project in the South Bronx, based at 430 Westchester Avenue. The project will bring almost 1,000 units of new housing and a new YMCA to the borough, and financing was secured for two of the five buildings, which should be completed by 2020. Amenities in addition to the YMCA include a rooftop garden, solar panels and a skate park.
2. You’re Welcome, Ms. Jackson — $300 million
Queens came in at number two on the list with a $300 million loan from Bank of the Ozarks to Jerry Wolkoff for his 5Pointz project at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. Wolkoff borrowed the loan to start its second phase of construction on the project, although specific plans for this phase are unclear. A judge recently ruled that Wolkoff would have to pay $6.7 million to 21 5Pointz artists for wrongfully and without warning painting over their work at the site.
3. Durst and State — $125 million
A Queens project grabbed the number three spot as well, with a $125 million loan from the New York State Housing Finance Agency to the Durst Organization for building one of the company’s Hallets Point project, located at 1-02 26th Avenue. The bonds for the loan were bought by Wells Fargo. City Hall recently and abruptly canceled $43.5 million in public funding for building seven of Hallets Point in the wake of a feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the company.
4. Moral Compass — $124.8 million
Number four on January’s list was a $124.8 million loan from the New York City Housing Development Corp. to Monadnock Development for Compass Residences, an eight-building package in the Bronx. The company is developing the project with Signature Urban Properties under the West Farms Redevelopment Plan, and the first two buildings opened in November 2016 at 1490 and 1500 Boone Avenue. The overall complex is expected to span five acres and include more than 1,300 units of affordable housing, 46,000 square feet of retail, two landscaped public spaces and a playground.
5. North to Long Island City — $100 million
Vornado Realty Trust scored a $100 million loan from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for its Long Island City project at 33-00 Northern Boulevard. The money will refinance the Center Building, an office property that Vornado bought in 2015 for $142 million. The loan will be for seven years.
6. Big Loan in BK — $86 million
Brooklyn made its first appearance on the list at number six with an $86 million loan from Bank of the Ozarks to Adam America, the U.S. arm of China Vanke and Slate Property Group with their condo at 10 Nevins Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The project will stand 27 stories tall, span 179,000 square feet and include 183 units. iStar loaned the companies $18 million as well, for a total of $104 million in construction financing.
7. Jacob’s Ladder Capital — $84 million
CBSK Ironstate received an $84 million loan for their Pod Hotel project at 247 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg from Ladder Capital. The loan to the partnership between CB Developers, SK Development Group and Ironstate Development replaces a construction loan for about $58 million on the project from Deutsche Bank. Brooklyn’s Pod Hotel location opened in 2017 and has 249 keys.
8. Greenpoint Sachs — $68 million
Freddie Mac, the New York City Housing Development Corporation and US Bank loaned Domain Companies and Goldman Sachs $68 million for their residential project in Greenpoint at 1133 Manhattan Avenue. The property spans 35,800 square feet and is the former home of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Yard.
9. …And Justice for All — $67.5 million
Chris Xu’s United Construction and Development Group received a $67.5 million loan from Taiwanese company First Commercial Bank for their project at 88-08 Justice Avenue in Elmhurst. The condo project will include 183 units, and the money from First Commercial consolidates two notes of $4.25 million and $13.25 million. It also includes a new $50 million construction loan. The project will span 271,000 square feet and include a preschool and daycare center on its first four floors.
10. To Infinity and Beyond — $65.5 million
Infinity Real Estate and Nightingale Properties rounded out the list with a $65.5 million loan for Kingswood Center in Midwood from LoanCore Capital. The property at 1630 East 15th Street stands three stories tall and spans 230,000 square feet, and LoanCore has assumed the $63.7 million unpaid balance on the property and given the borrower a gap mortgage for $1.8 million.