Witkoff, Fisher Brothers and Howard Lorber’s New Valley just pulled off about $650 million in financing for 111 Murray, part of which is a condominium inventory loan for the 800-foot Tribeca tower’s remaining unsold units, The Real Deal has learned.
The developers recently closed a large loan from the lending arm of Blackstone Group for the project, which is expected to be complete by spring 2018. Sources said the loan is partially an inventory loan in the interim before all in-contract units close in the first quarter, as well as a takeout of the existing construction loan.
The Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed project’s units are nearly 80 percent sold, according to a source familiar with the apartment sales.
Sales launched at the 58-story, 157-unit tower in July 2015. That same month, the developers secured a $445 million construction loan from a group that included M&T Bank, Deutsche Bank and Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies.
The new refinancing now comes solely from Blackstone, sources said. The deal has not yet appeared in property records, though there is a new agreement filing for the amount of the initial construction loan – just a portion of the total loan.
Steve Witkoff declined to comment, and representatives for the project and Blackstone could not be immediately reached.
Back when the offering plan was filed with the New York state Attorney General’s office, the tower had a total projected sellout of $958 million. Apartments have ranged in price from $2.5 million to $18.9 million. The tower’s current projected sellout is $1.05 billion, according to the AG’s office.
Condo inventory loans have become more popular in New York City recently, as a way to receive financing for a chunk of apartments that have not yet closed. The loans get paid as more units sell. Tessler Development and Time Equities secured condo inventory financing earlier this year for unsold units at their respective towers at 172 Madison Avenue and 50 West Street.
Will Parker and Danielle Balbi contributed reporting.