Downtown Brooklyn topped the list of outer borough loans for the second month in a row, although May’s top loan was not nearly as large as April’s.
In April, the neighborhood topped the list with loans for $429 million and $330 million, but it grabbed the top spot in May with a loan for just $86 million from Union Bank to John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group for 81 Fleet Place. An $85 million loan from JPMorgan to Two Trees Management came in second.
Overall, the list was split between five loans in Brooklyn and five loans in Queens. No loans for projects in the Bronx or Staten Island made the cut last month.
The full list of the top 10 outer borough loans for May is as follows:
1. A Red Apple a Day – $86 million
John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group took the first place spot in June with an $86 million refinancing at 81 Fleet Place in Downtown Brooklyn, also known as the Giovanni. The loan came from Union Bank and included a $1 million gap mortgage. The rental project stands 15 stories tall with 205 units, according to StreetEasy.
2. Down on Main Street – $85 million
Second place went to Two Trees Management for its office building at 45 Main Street in Dumbo. JPMorgan provided the firm with the $85 million refinancing, which included a new $70 million mortgage. The 12-story building spans 475,000 square feet, and its tenants include Bjarke Ingels’ architecture firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.
3. Leumi and Rabsky – $82 million
Bank Leumi provided the Rabsky Group with $82 million in financing for its project at 42-20 27th Street in Long Island City. The 18-story project includes 195 residential units and about 3,000 square feet of commercial space. Six workers were injured at the site in 2017 when part of the eighth floor collapsed onto the floor below after concrete had been poured.
4. M&TF Cornerstone – $73 million
TF Cornerstone landed $73 million from M&T Bank for its Pacific Park sites at 595 and 615 Dean Street. The firm plans to build two towers on the site with 800 apartments, retail space and more than 70,000 square feet of open space. Empire State Development Corporation is leasing the land to them, and TF Cornerstone will own the land outright once they finish construction.
5. Storage Wars – $70 million
Wells Fargo gave Storage Deluxe a $70 million mortgage for 74 Bogart Street in East Williamsburg. The firm bought the development site for $45.5 million and plans to use it for a seven-story, 220,000-square-foot self-storage facility operated by CubeSmart. The project should be done by the fall of 2021, and Storage Deluxe will likely spend more than $50 million to finish it.
6. Popularity Contest – $70 million
Popular Bank provided Davbel Properties with a $70 million mortgage for 886 Dahill Road in South Brooklyn. The mortgage includes $50.3 million in new financing. Davbel bought the site for $29.5 million in 2016 from brothers Edward and Martin Wydra.
7. Let’s All Cooperate – $41.5 million
TD Bank provided a $41.5 million loan to the Park City Estates Tenant Corporation for Park City Estates, a luxury co-op development in Rego Park. The complex was built in 1960 and includes 630 residential units across five buildings, according to StreetEasy.
8. Sterling Archer Avenue – $34.5 million
ACORE Capital provided United Construction & Development Group with roughly $34.5 million in refinancing for its property at 148-22 Archer Avenue in Jamaica. The deal refinances a prior debt package from LaSalle Investment Management and will fund the development of a dual-branded Fairfield Inn and Marriott Courtyard at the site, according to Commercial Observer.
9. See You in Court Plaza – $34 million
Signature Bank loaned Stellar Management $34 million for Court Plaza, a residential building at 123-33 83rd Avenue in Kew Gardens. The property stands 32 stories tall and contains 249 units, according to StreetEasy. Stellar Management COO Adam Roman said in a statement to Commercial Observer that it was “an opportune time to refinance the property given the substantial improvements ownership has made in the building, as well as the state of the broader capital market environment.”
10. 38 Special – $32.3 million
May’s list closes out with a loan from Greystone to the Hakimian Organization for 33-01 38th Avenue in Long Island City. The property is known as The Addition and stands seven stories tall with 94 units, according to StreetEasy.