Rockrose Development reeled in a fresh financing package for its 51-story rental tower in Hudson Yards.
The developer landed a $293 million loan for Lyra, a 590-unit building at 555 West 38th Street, the Commercial Observer reported. Wells Fargo provided the five-year, fixed-rate Fannie Mae loan, which retires $255 million in construction debt the bank provided in 2019.
Rockrose completed Lyra last year and benefits from the since-expired 421a tax exemption, with 30 percent of the building’s units designated affordable. The property includes 2,000 square feet of retail space and residential amenities including a fitness center and landscaped roof terrace.
Rents at the property range from $3,775 to $7,415, according to Apartments.com. There are six units listed for availability on the site.
An Avison Young team including Andy Singer and Scott Singer brokered the financing on behalf of Rockrose.
Henry Elghanayan’s Rockrose started piecing together the parcels for Lyra two decades before delivering the final project. In 2007, it purchased 476 11th Avenue for $83.4 million. Five years later, it purchased 528-534 West 29th Street from Mercedes for an undisclosed sum.
In 2019, Rockrose bought more than 139,000 square feet of air rights from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for $20.5 million, penciling out to roughly $147 per square foot. Developers were able to purchase additional air rights in Hudson Yards through payments to either the MTA or the Hudson Yards District Improvement Fund.
Large financing packages have been hard to come by in the last 18 months due to the struggling property market and the surge in interest rates sent soaring in the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation. The Fed this week signaled that interest rate cuts could be coming next year, which could invigorate the financing market.
Avison Young’s Scott told the outlet there was competition among institutions to provide the financing.
“Much of the market talk today is about macro pullbacks and the lack of financing that’s available, but what we find is that each transaction really stands on its own,” Scott said. “When you have the right confluence of a strong sponsor, a creative broker and a right-sized need? There’s financing available.”
— Holden Walter-Warner