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Durst buys Clock Tower site in LIC for about $175M
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Durst snags equity partner at luxury Sven in LIC
Deal with Affinius Capital values 950-unit rental above $700M
From left: Durst Organization chair Douglas Durst and Affinius Capital chair Len O’Donnell along with 29-59 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City (Getty, Durst Organization, Affinius Capital, Google Maps)
The Durst Organization didn’t ultimately sell the Sven luxury rental building in Queens, instead inking a deal for an equity partner and some fresh debt.
Affinius Capital jumped in as an equity partner at the Long Island City property, Bloomberg reported. The deal values the massive rental complex at more than $700 million. Affinius’ stake is valued at more than $100 million, but is less than 50 percent of the equity; the deal is expected to close this month.
Neither Affinius nor Durst commented to the outlet about the deal, which was brokered by Newmark’s Adam Spies and Doug Harmon.
That’s not the only movement at Sven, coming a month after Wells Fargo provided $450 million in debt.
At the start of the year, the Dursts were eyeing a sale of the 958-unit building at 29-59 Northern Boulevard, The Real Deal reported. The sale of the 2022-completed property would’ve represented a rare offloading by the dynastic real estate family.
At the time, Durst was reported to be open to selling a partial stake in a recapitalization of the property, which is ultimately what happened.
Durst became involved in the Sven in 2016 when it paid $175 million to buy the Clock Tower development site, named for the landmarked former home of the Bank of Manhattan.
The curved facade of the 71-story Sven wraps around the clock tower. The Sven is the second-tallest building in Queens, only standing below Chris Xu’s Skyline Tower condo building.
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Seventy percent of the Sven’s units are market-rate and the building has a 35-year tax abatement under the Affordable New York 421a program, which expired two years ago.
Recent market-rate rents at the Sven averaged about $84 per square foot, according to marketing materials, on par with Class A buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Elsewhere in Long Island City, Charlotte-based Grubb Properties recently landed a $215 million construction loan from Kennedy Wilson and a Related Companies subsidiary to complete its 417-unit project at 25-01 Queens Plaza North, its first foray into New York City development.