Fifth Avenue office tower owned by Mexican banking scion heads to special servicing

A $200 million loan on a Fifth Avenue tower owned by a scion of a Mexican banking family has landed in special servicing.

The CMBS loan on 500 Fifth Avenue, a 727,757-square-foot office property in Midtown, was moved to special servicing at the end of June because of imminent maturity default, according to Trepp.

The loan is set to mature in October and the property owner, Moises Cosio, is fewer than 30 days late on its most recent payment, Trepp reported.

The debt likely went into special servicing in order to be restructured, according to servicer commentary. Morningstar data expects the loan to be worked out by 2025.

The property, unlike other office buildings whose mortgages were sent to special servicing, appears to be relatively healthy. In the first quarter of 2024, the office tower was over 80 percent occupied. It had a debt service coverage ratio of 2.86, meaning the property was generating nearly three times more cash than was needed to cover its mortgage payments, according to data reported by Trepp.

Built in 1931 and renovated in 2012, the tower is close to Bryant Park. It was last appraised in 2014 at a valuation of $600 million. Tenants include the publisher W.W. Norton, Zara and IT firm Ahead, which signed a lease for the entire 17th floor this spring. The asking rent was $95 per square foot, Commercial Observer reported.

Cosio, whose family controlled one of Mexico’s two largest banks, owns properties across the U.S. In 2022, a company tied to Cosio sold two industrial properties in Los Angeles for $92 million.

Attempts to reach Cosio through his arts foundation in Mexico and his leasing brokers at Cushman & Wakefield were not successful.