The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in April totaled just $742 million, a 72-percent decline from March as the coronavirus crisis set in. The largest loan went to a hotel and four of the top 10 went to retail properties — asset classes that are facing particular headwinds in the current environment.
1) Midtown East, Middle East — $230 million
Qatar’s Constellation Hotels Group secured a $230 million refinancing from the National Bank Of Kuwait for the 702-key New York Barclay hotel at 111 East 48th Street in Midtown East. Intercontinental Hotels Group sold an 80 percent share in the hotel to Constellation in 2013, and secured a 30-year management contract as part of the deal. The new debt replaces a $290 million refinancing provided by Deutsche Bank in 2017.
2) Remote learning — $163 million
CTL Capital provided a $163 million loan to the Gural family’s GFP Real Estate for the rehabilitation of 301 First Avenue, a 24-story dormitory building. The debt was assigned to Wells Fargo upon origination. GFP and Meadow Partners acquired the vacant property from CIM Group last year for $81 million, with a $78 million loan from Mack Real Estate. Property records show that the dormitory portion of the building was sold to the New School for $65 million in February.
3) Schron & Sitt — $114 million
Rubin Schron’s Cammeby’s International and minority partner Thor Equities landed $114 million from New York Community Bank to refinance the 241-unit rental property at 30 Park Avenue in Murray Hill. The new debt replaces $120 million provided by Ladder Capital in 2015, when Cammeby’s and Thor acquired the property. Joe Sitt’s Thor had first signed a $180 million contract for the acquisition, before bringing in Schron’s firm as a capital partner.
4) Apples and mortgages — $75 million
Credit Agricole lent $75 million to Centurion Realty to refinance the 28,400-square-foot retail property at 103 Prince Street, home to New York City’s first Apple store. The new debt replaces a $47 million loan provided by Safra National Bank in 2012. Centurion partnered with the late Stanley Chera’s Crown Acquisitions to acquire the property for $75 million in 2011 while it was undergoing renovations.
5) Kushner condo — $59 million
Kushner Companies refinanced the 31,500-square-foot retail space at the base of 285 Lafayette Street with two mortgages, including $33 million from Bank of America and $26 million from UMB Bank. Kushner acquired the property, which is directly south of the firm’s Puck Building, from Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. and Centurion Realty for $39 million last year.
6) Peking debt — $23 million
Beijing-based CL Investment Group secured a $23 million loan from Bank of China to finance its $28.7 million acquisition of three retail condominium units at 1683 Third Avenue in Yorkville, also known as the Kent condominium at 200 East 95th Street. Extell Development was the seller. The new debt pays down part of a $50 million loan from Capital One to Extell, the remainder of which is secured by unsold units at the Kent.
7) Air-rights aftermath — $22 million
Citigroup provided a $21.5 million refinancing to Alex Adjmi’s A&H Acquisitions for the four-story retail property at 116 Seventh Avenue in Chelsea. Extell Development had once planned a 145-foot condo tower on the site, before residents of the neighboring loft building shelled out $11 million in 2016 to buy its air rights and preserve their views. A&H acquired the site from Extell for $29 million that same year.
8) Condo cashout — $20 million
Turkish hedge funder Ahmet Okumus landed a $20 million mortgage for three condo units at the Plaza Hotel and one at 704 Broadway in Noho, which were previously unencumbered by debt. Outside of New York City, the debt is also secured by a Hamptons home and a London mansion, according to the loan documents.
9) Eight Points, two buildings — $19 million
BankUnited provided a $19 million refinancing to Marjorie Nesbitt of Eight Points Asset Management for two rental properties, the 36-unit 56 West 11th Street in Greenwich Village and the 89-unit 170 East 83rd Street on the Upper East Side. Eight Points, acting on behalf of an Italian investor in a 1031 exchange, purchased the Greenwich Village property from Icon Realty Management for $37.8 million in 2017.
10) In the heights — $19 million
Jeffrey Goldberg and Will Blodgett’s Fairstead landed an $18.5 million loan from Signature Bank to refinance the 46-unit rental building at 3621 Broadway in Hamilton Heights. The debt replaces an $18.7 million loan provided by New York Community Bank in 2015, which financed the landlord’s $25.5 million acquisition of the property.