Gary Barnett’s Extell repeats as Manhattan’s top borrower

The 10 largest real estate loans recorded in Manhattan in March totaled $1.1 billion, about half the amount of last March’s top 10 and less than February’s total of $1.6 billion.

Gary Barnett took top billing for a second straight month, this time with a $325 million refinance of Extell Development’s Times Square Hard Rock Hotel, which opened this week.

[Editor’s note: A $75 million loan from city authorities to build a women’s shelter would have ranked fourth, but it was excluded from the list because it resembled a public expense more than a real estate loan.]

Here are details:

1. Ready to rock | $325 million

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development refinanced its Times Square Hard Rock Hotel with a $325 million loan from Guggenheim Investments. The financing included a $100 million gap loan and replaced a $225 million construction loan from Bank of America in 2020. The opening of the 446-key hotel, where guests can rent Fender guitars via room service, was announced last week.

2. Alchemical conversion | $230 million

Alchemy Properties refinanced its condo conversion at 378 West End Avenue on the Upper West Side with a $230 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. The financing replaces debt held by Bank OZK. Sales of the project’s 57 units began in 2021 with a projected sellout price of $488 million.

3. Starchitect spiral | $200 million

Tishman Speyer secured $200 million in building loans from KKR at 66 Hudson Yards, the spiraling 2.2 million-square-foot office tower where construction finished in 2021. Designed by Bjarke Ingels, it has drawn tenants including its general contractor Turner Construction as well as interest from London-based bank HSBC.

4. Trumped up | $100 million

The Trump Organization received a $100 million loan from Axos Bank to refinance the office and retail portions of 721 Fifth Avenue, which has struggled with occupancy. The loan replaces funds originated by Ladder Capital in 2012 that were sold to CMBS investors. The balance of the interest-only CMBS loan was scheduled to come due in August of this year.

5. If you build it… | $66 million

A limited liability company controlled by Artimus Construction received a $66 million loan from Israel’s Bank Hapoalim to construct a 175,000-square-foot, mixed-use building with 160 residential units at 1844 Park Avenue in Central Harlem.

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6. Turkish delight | $47 million

Rose Associates and the Turkey-based Marmara Group corporate.aspx will use a $47 million loan from Bank United to redevelop the Marmara Manhattan, an empty 110-unit condo building at 301 East 96th Street in Yorkville, Real Estate Weekly reported. Stephen Warheit of Kiska Construction signed for the loan proceeds.

7. CMBS exit | $37 million

Paramdeep Singh financed the purchase of the Hotel at Times Square with $37.4 million from Benefit Street Partners, which originated $4.8 million in construction and gap loans. The lender took over the remaining debt from CMBS investors following a period of delinquency under prior owner Apple Core Holding. Singh bought the hotel at 59 West 46th Street in February for $59.5 million.

8. Gramercy green | $34 million

Abington Holding refinanced debt at 295 Park Avenue South with a $33.7 million loan from Apple Bank. The Gramercy Park apartment building has 179 units and was built in 1979.

9. Sound investment | $30 million

Premier Equities used a $30 million loan from Sound Point Capital to purchase Allen House, a 41,000-square-foot condominium with ground floor retail at 1231 Third Avenue. It bought the property in December from the Chetrit Group for $43.25 million.

10. Buy and Holzer | $30 million

Marsia Holzer, acting through York Terrace Inc., refinanced debt at 1511 and 1533 York Avenue with a $30 million loan from CGA Capital. The Holzer family has owned the properties — which have a combined 563 apartments — since 1975, according to property records.