The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in July totaled $976 million, a quarter less than June’s total.
The two largest financing packages both involved Germany’s Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, a specialist real estate lender whose main funding instrument is the German Pfandbrief, a type of covered bond.
Here are the borough’s largest real estate loans for July:
1) Pfandbrief pfunding- $200 million
Savanna secured $200 million in senior financing for its $435 million acquisition of the 27-story office building at 1375 Broadway. Brookfield Real Estate Finance originated the debt and syndicated it to Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Aareal Capital Corp, while holding on to a $103.5 million mezzanine portion. The deal went into contract in February and was the first purchase out of Savanna’s fifth private equity fund, which it launched late last year.
2) Pfandbrief pfinance – $150 million
Deutsche Pfandbriefbank was involved in another big loan in July, providing a $150 million refinancing for Aurora Capital Associates and William Gottlieb Real Estate’s recently-completed 40 10th Avenue, a 10-story, 157,000-square-foot office and retail project near the base of the High Line and Chelsea Market. The new loan replaced $120 million in construction financing Bank OZK provided in 2017. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group will occupy the entire 8th floor of the property.
3) Sigoura secures – $129 million
Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment secured a $133 million construction loan from ACORE Capital for a 19-story condo project at 109 East 79th Street. The former chief investment officer at Naftali Group had spent more than $62 million assembling the project site and filed plans for construction last year. The Upper East Side site is two blocks off of Central Park, near Park Avenue.
4) Pace’s place – $125 million
Bank of China provided a $125 million construction loan to SL Green Realty for its 215,000-square-foot development at 126-132 Nassau Street, also known as 15 Beekman Street. Pace University is set to occupy the entire development, which will include classrooms, a library, a dorm, a dining facility and a learning center. SL Green entered a 99-year ground lease for the property in March, valued at $30 million according to property records.
5) Resnick Ruben refi – $100 million
Jack Resnick & Sons and Ruben Companies secured a $100 million refinancing from PGIM Real Estate for 52 Broadway, a 19-story office building in the Financial District. The 426,000-square-foot development is fully leased to the United Federation of Teachers, and has served as the union’s headquarters since 2002. Resnick has owned the property since 1978, and the UFT lease was one of Lower Manhattan’s first big deals after 9/11.
6) Bond borrowing – $75 million
As part of its plan to restructure about $200 million in Israeli bonds that were set to mature in September, Related Companies landed a $75 million refinancing from First Republic Bank for an office condominium spanning the 18th and 19th floors of the Time Warner Center, more than doubling the existing $30 million mortgage on the property. Related will pay off $74.5 million of the bonds’ principal this year while the remainder has been postponed to 2021.
7) Student home Alabama – $64 million
Bank of America provided a $64 million refinancing for the Alabama, a 175-unit student housing property at 13-15 East 11th Street near New York University. The Simons Foundation acquired the property from developers Pebb Capital and TriArch Real Estate Group earlier this year for $104 million. The acquisition was originally financed with a $43 million loan from a Simons affiliate, which was then replaced by BoA’s financing.
8) Qatari qonversion – $45 million
Former Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani refinanced a townhouse at 20 East 71st Street in Lenox Hill with a $45 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. Al Thani had acquired the property from Aby Rosen in 2012 for $47 million, and in 2019 completed a renovation to change the property’s certificate of occupancy from office to single family. There was no prior debt on the townhouse, according to property records.
9) Meatpacking mortgage – $45 million
Aareal Capital Corporation provided a $44.6 million refinancing for SK Development and CB Developers’ 40 Gansevoort Street, a five-story, mixed-use office and retail property in the Meatpacking District that is fully leased to clothing retailer Theory. The property sits on a 50-year ground lease, and the ground owners also recently secured a $15 million refinancing for their interest in the property from First Republic bank.
10) Arthurian lending – $43 million
Naftali Group secured a $43 million refinancing for the Arthur, a 67-unit rental property at 245 West 25th Street in Chelsea, from Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen, a.k.a. Helaba. The new debt replaces a $45 million loan provided by Signature Bank in 2015, property records show. Naftali acquired the property for $37 million in 2012.