Fortis Property Group is heading into the market for a total of $270 million in condominium inventory financing for two projects: 1 Seaport in the Financial District and the first phase of the Long Island College Hospital site’s redevelopment in Cobble Hill, The Real Deal has learned.
The developer’s 1 Seaport at 161 Maiden Lane and Polhemus Residences & Townhouses at 100 Amity Street are both under construction. Fortis wants the financing – $185 million and $85 million, respectively – to be done individually, but ideally with the same lender, according to marketing materials.
Polhemus has a projected sellout of $120 million, while 1 Seaport has an expected sellout of $273 million.
The 1 Seaport project, which is a 60-story condo tower, contains 98 apartments and is 76 percent pre-sold. Seventy-four units are under contract at an average sales price of $2,171 per square foot, according to marketing materials. Those apartment sales, totaling $182 million, would, therefore, pay down 98 percent of the requested loan amount.
At 1 Seaport in particular, Fortis is under the gun to deliver closings. The condo offering plan states that closings are slated to begin this month and that the developer would have to update the project’s budget if the first closing does not occur by June. Buyers who entered contract on apartments are allowed to back out if the budget exceeds 25 percent or more of the original. A construction worker fell 29 stories to his death at 1 Seaport last year, which delayed construction by several months.
Meanwhile, Fortis is also developing a complex with 17 condo units and eight townhouses as the first phase in the nearly 1 million-square-foot site known as River Park. Of the 25 homes, 14 are now in contract at an average $1,657 per square foot, materials show.
The apartment sales would comprise $61.4 million of sellout value, and therefore only 72 percent of the loan amount the firm is seeking. Two of the townhouses, which both span six stories, are under contract for a combined $16.8 million.
Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub
A Newmark Knight Frank team led by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub are handling the search for the loan. The brokers declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Fortis could not be immediately reached.
Just a few months ago, Fortis, led by Jonathan Landau, locked in construction financing for three other proposed buildings at River Park – $297 million from Madison Realty Capital.
As the luxury condo market continues to soften, inventory loans have become more prevalent in the market. The developers of the Tribeca condo project 111 Murray secured a $650 million inventory loan from Blackstone Group and Tessler Development went that route at his project at 172 Madison Avenue.