The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in February totaled $1.7 billion, a third less than January’s total. During this relatively slow month, Gary Barnett’s Extell Development closed on two loans in the top five, including the largest loan for a Diamond District assemblage.
1. Dimon district – $340 million
Extell refinanced a big Diamond District assemblage, including 13 properties along Fifth Avenue and around West 46th and West 47th streets, with a $340 million loan from the Jamie Dimon-led lending giant, JPMorgan Chase. Barnett, who used to work in the diamond industry, has been assembling properties on the site for years, and previously built the 35-story International Gem Tower at 50 West 47th Street.
2. Spitz take – $276 million
Eliot Spitzer and Related Companies landed $276 million in financing from M&T Bank for their 526-unit housing development in Hudson Yards, about a quarter of which will be senior housing. Development is expected to be completed in 2022, and will be the second location for Related and Atria Senior Living’s new series of what they call “upscale urban senior living communities.”
3. Global nomad – $250 million
Eyal Ofer’s Global Holdings Management Group financed its $380 million acquisition of the Instrata Nomad luxury apartment tower with a $250 million loan from Wells Fargo. The seller of the 50-story luxury apartment tower at 10 East 29th Street was the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association, which was advised by Invesco Real Estate.
4. Meritzocracy – $240 million (senior portion)
South Korean lender Meritz Securities provided a $350 million condo inventory loan — including $240 million in senior debt — for Ceruzzi Properties’ luxury condominium tower at 138 East 50th Street, known as the Centrale. Meritz has been on the hunt for overseas deals since late 2019, when the South Korean government began a crackdown on domestic real estate lending, local media reported.
5. Rock on – $225 million
In its other big deal of the month, Extell secured a $225 million financing package from Bank of America for the leasehold on two parcels at 151 and 159 West 48th Street, where the developer is building a Hard Rock Hotel. Solil Management, the estate of late real estate mogul Sol Goldman, owns the land under the development.
6. OTOmatic – $90 million
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank provided a $90 million loan to South Carolina’s OTO Development for 260 West 40th Street, a 290-key hotel which opened last year. The hotel, which operates under the AC Hotels by Marriott brand, is home to Spanish tapas bar Boqueria and rooftop lounge Castell.
7. Stellaba – $86 million
Stellar Management landed a $85.5 million refinancing from Germany’s Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentale (a.k.a. Helaba) for its apartment building at 70 West 93rd Street on the Upper West Side. Stellar recently added a 15,000-square-foot street-level retail pavilion to the property, which it co-owns with Vornado Realty Trust.
8. McSam mortgage – $64 million
Deutsche Bank provided a $63.5 million refinancing for Sam Chang’s 320-key Radisson hotel at 523 Eighth Avenue in Hudson Yards, which opened late last year. Chang’s McSam Group acquired a 99-year ground lease for the property in 2016, paying $27 million to Bryant Park-based landlord Joseph P. Day Realty Corp.
9. Cayre package – $55 million
Wells Fargo provided a $55 million refinancing for two parcels at 52 Gansevoort Street and 842 Greenwich Street in the Meatpacking District, part of the Gansevoort Row development from Bobby Cayre’s Aurora Capital and William E. Gottlieb Real Estate. Restaurateurs Keith McNally and Stephen Starr reopened their iconic Pastis at 52 Gansevoort last June.
10. Labor landlord – $50 million
Labor union and AFL-CIO affiliate Unite Here refinanced its 28-story, 600,000-square-foot office building at 275 Seventh Avenue with a $50 million loan from Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York. The building is largely leased to TAMI tenants like media agency Crossmedia, as well as CBRE’s digital and technology group, which recently saw major layoffs.