Real estate lending bounces back in September in a big way

Top 10 total rose to annual high of $3.35B, 8 times the previous month

From left: 410 Tenth Avenue, 745 Fifth Avenue, One Manhattan West and 522 Fifth Avenue (Google Maps, Wikimedia)
From left: 410 Tenth Avenue, 745 Fifth Avenue, One Manhattan West and 522 Fifth Avenue (Google Maps, Wikimedia)

The 10 largest Manhattan loans recorded in September totaled $3.35 billion, the largest monthly total of the year and nearly eight times August’s volume.

But two large loans in the Hudson Yards neighborhood accounted for a good chunk of that volume: one for a recently completed skyscraper in Brookfield’s Manhattan West development, and the other a construction loan for SL Green Realty’s office project on Tenth Avenue. A pair of office properties on Fifth Avenue and an Upper East Side refi rounded out the top five.

Here are the borough’s largest real estate loans for September:

1) Brookfield boost | Manhattan | $1.5 billion

Brookfield Property Partners and the Qatar Investment Authority secured a $1.5 billion single-asset CMBS loan from Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Citi and JPMorgan Chase for the office portion of One Manhattan West. Major tenants at the 70-story, 2.1 million-square-foot skyscraper include law firm Skadden Arps, accounting firm Ernst & Young, consulting firm Accenture and the National Hockey League. QIA’s stake in the property is 44 percent.

2) Seeing green | Manhattan | $600 million

A group of domestic and international banks led by Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo provided a $600 million construction loan to SL Green for its office project at 410 Tenth Avenue, a 20-story property anchored by Amazon and First Republic Bank. The developer put the building on the market earlier this year, and Brookfield is reportedly considering a bid. The new debt replaces a $465 million construction loan provided by Singapore’s United Overseas Bank last year.

3) Finck Avenue | Manhattan | $250 million

Paramount Group landed a $250 million refinancing from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank for 745 Fifth Avenue, a 35-story Art Deco office tower across the street from the Plaza Hotel. Paramount manages the property and holds a minority stake in it, while German investment firm Wilhelm von Finck owns 99 percent. Bergdorf Goodman, whose parent company Neiman Marcus recently exited bankruptcy, has a three-floor men’s store at the base of the building.

4) Rose ‘n columns | Manhattan | $224 million

Credit Suisse affiliate Column Financial lent $224 million to Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty for its $350 million acquisition of 522 Fifth Avenue, a 23-story building previously owned by Morgan Stanley. The investment bank had used the building as a headquarters for its wealth management division, and will stay as a tenant for at least three years after the sale.

5) Going Solow | Manhattan | $186 million

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In the largest of several deals with the same lender in September, Solow Realty & Development secured a $186 million refinancing from Walker & Dunlop for One East River Place, a 50-story, 414-unit rental property at 525 East 72nd Street in Lenox Hill. The loan was assigned to Freddie Mac.

6) Trust in Tribeca | Manhattan | $175 million

AIG provided a $175 million loan to AmTrust Realty for its renovation of 250 Broadway, a 30-story, 540,000-square-foot office tower in Tribeca. The property is home to the New York City Housing Authority, which in 2017 indicated that it was planning to relocate to nearby 90 Church Street after agreeing to a new 20-year lease there.

7) Duow | Manhattan | $148 million

Solow and Walker & Dunlop’s second-largest residential refi of the month was a $148 million mortgage on a 45-story, 301-unit rental tower at 265 East 66th Street in Lenox Hill and the adjacent 20-unit townhouse development.

8) Triow | Manhattan | $110 million

Solow’s third-largest refi was $110 million for One Sutton Place North, a 41-story, 234-unit rental at 420 East 61st Street in Lenox Hill. These three refinancings, plus a $60.5 million mortgage for Rivers Bend at 501 East 87th Street in Yorkville, paid off a $500 million single-borrower CMBS loan Solow received from JPMorgan in 2015.

9) Pier review | Manhattan | $80 million

The owners of Chelsea Piers refinanced the sports and entertainment complex with a $80 million loan from Vici Properties, a real estate investment trust that specializes in casino properties. Vici was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Caesars Entertainment, which filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

10) In the pink | Manhattan | $80 million

Carmel Partners and Fortress Investment Group provided an $80 million loan to Richard Ohebshalom’s Pink Stone Capital for a 11,255-square-foot site at 111 Washington Street. The financing enabled Ohebshalom to resolve a years-long legal dispute with his father Fred Ohebshalom regarding the site. The younger Ohebshalom is now shopping for a buyer or a joint venture partner to begin developing the land.