Metro Loft, David Werner Near Record Loan for Conversion

Metro Loft and David Werner’s high-profile conversion of Pfizer’s former headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan may have yet another record to boast.

Madison Realty Capital is finalizing a loan north of $700 million to the partners for their project at 235 East 42nd Street, The Promote reported. The construction financing would represent record financing for both the type of project and the lender. An IPA Capital Markets team led by Max Herzog is arranging the construction loan with Madison Realty Capital on behalf of Metro Loft and David Werner Real Estate.

The financing deal includes both a senior loan and mezzanine debt in support of the 1,600-unit office-to-residential redevelopment, the largest in United States history. The developers are set to benefit from 467m tax abatement program, which mandates a quarter of units at a conversion be restricted by income.

Nathan Berman’s Metro Loft and Madison both declined to comment when asked by The Real Deal. Werner could not be reached.

This comes on the heels of a $135 million loan provided by Northwind Group earlier this year, which was secured by the fee interest in the building. Last summer, the firm also provided $75 million to the same joint venture at 219 East 42nd Street, another building that’s part of the firms’ development plans.

Werner owns the leasehold of the larger of the two buildings, the 33-story 235 East 42nd Street, after purchasing it for $407 million. It bought the smaller 10-story 219 East 42nd Street in partnership with life sciences developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $142 million. Initially, the goal was to renovate it for life-sciences tenants, but Werner ultimately bought the property from the REIT.

Berman agreed to acquire a minority stake in the buildings from Werner, who had bought the interests in the property five years earlier when Pfizer relocated to Tishman Speyer’s Spiral.

Berman is arguably one of the leading forces behind New York City conversion projects. At the start of the year, his firm partnered with Ofer’s Quantum Pacific on an $88 million purchase of the building at 767 Third Avenue from Sage Realty, charting a course for a likely office-to-resi conversion.

— Holden Walter-Warner