Troubled FiDi condo project gets $50M loan

Things are finally moving along at 1 Park Row, a FInancial District condo project plagued by problems and delays.

Circle F Group’s 24-story condo project, which is in the middle of construction, secured a $50 million loan from 3650 REIT for the completion and upgrades. The 62-unit luxury condo building will include 8,000 square feet of retail space at the former site of the electronics store J&R Music and Computer World.

The project is a decade in the making.

J & R shut down in 2014 and owners Joe and Rachelle Friedman initially planned to rebuild the storefront into an “unprecedented retailing concept and social mecca,” Gothamist reported at the time.

Plans were eventually filed for a building with 63 apartments, three floors of office space and ground-floor retail. The deed was transferred in 2019 to 1 Park Row Development from 1 Park Row LLC, with Rachelle signing for both entities. Circle F emerged as the developer and Parkview Financial provided a $90 million construction loan in 2021.

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Architecture And Design

New York

Here's what 1 Park Row in the Financial District will look like

Construction

New York

L.A.-based lender puts FiDi project into construction with $90M loan

Residential

New York

When music stopped at J&R site, “colossal failures” began: lawsuit

The developer sued the construction manager last year, alleging a subcontractor’s mistakes led to colossal issues and delays with the project. That lawsuit has been settled and discontinued, said Brendan Schmidt, an attorney for the developer.

The condos will have an average size of about 1,000 square feet. The building will also have a 3,300 duplex penthouse, fitness center, garden terrace and lounge, according to a press release.
3650 REIT is a national portfolio lender launched in 2018 by real estate finance veterans Jonathan Roth, Toby Cobb and Justin Kennedy. The loan was first reported by Commercial Observer.