Certes Partners, in partnership with United Management and United executive Meir Bouskila, pulled off a $71.5 million construction loan for its 19-story condominium project on the Upper West Side, the developer told The Real Deal.
Goldman Sachs provided the financing for the construction of a 38-unit residential building at 212 West 95th Street, which will rise in place of the troubled former single-room-occupancy hotel Camden Resident Hotel on the site. The developers plan to break ground this month and wrap construction by early 2020.
Certes and United acquired the hotel for $15 million in 2014 and then the garage next door for $26 million the following year. Both structures have since been demolished.
Certes, led by Elan Hakimian, Eitan Bouskila and Sunder Jambunathan, is involved in a condo project at 30 East 31st Street in NoMad. That building, which Certes is doing with Erik Ekstein and Pinnacle Realty of New York, has a projected sellout of $151 million.
The 100,000-square-foot Upper West Side project will also have retail and garage components.
“We don’t compete with other projects. Our competitor is the suburbs,” Jambunathan said. “We have worked hard to create a residence which compels people and families to stay in the city, and which attracts empty nesters to return.”
Meir Bouskila, who runs United with Arthur Wiener, owns several multifamily buildings on the side and recently launched his own firm Metropolitan Acquisitions, which has a stake in the project.
CetraRuddy and RKTB Architects are designing the project, and Reuveni Real Estate is handling sales and marketing. Zevi Schwartz of Black Wolf Capital brokered the financing.
Goldman Sachs, which signaled Monday that David Solomon is next in line to replace outgoing CEO Lloyd Blankfein, could not be reached for comment.