Nathan Berman Communicating With Investors Over Pfizer Dev

While shoring up the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown East, its developer is also looking to shore up investor support.

MetroLoft’s Nathan Berman has been talking to investors of the office-to-residential project since Tuesday’s incident, the New York Times reported. Berman’s ability to meet the construction timeline relies not just on the ability to resume work at 235 East 42nd Street, but to hold on to his financing.

Berman told investors that there would be relatively minor delays, but that the project would be completed next year, as intended. Berman has said he only expects the delay to last a few weeks.

MetroLoft declined to comment on those conversations with investors.

The developers — who also include David Werner — went through several rounds of financing for their undertaking. In May, the pair secured a $700 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital, a record amount for a residential conversion project in New York.

Northwind Group provided a $75 million loan to the joint venture for the property at 219 East 42nd Street, which is also slated for redevelopment. The firm later supplied another $135 million for the site.

The project’s future felt perilous on Tuesday morning, when officers from the FDNY responded to the building around 8 a.m. over reports of bricks falling from the high-rise property. Officials discovered several sagging floors on the upper levels, as well as two buckled support columns, and ordered evacuations for construction workers, along with nine nearby buildings, as a precaution.

Berman later characterized the incident as a “freak accident” involving two specific columns, stating the building was never at risk.

Berman told Bloomberg this week that the firm plans to reconstruct 15 floors across the project, replacing the facade, slabs and steel. He said he expected shoring and stabilization to be completed within a couple of days; the project is subject to a partial stop-work order.

MetroLoft partnered with David Werner to combine two Midtown East buildings that formerly housed the headquarters of Pfizer into one residential development with about 1,600 units.

— Holden Walter-Warner