Resi Towers Reel in Big Bucks: NYC’s Top Property Loans

Two blockbuster loans made up for an otherwise lackluster month, as lenders pumped major bucks into two luxury condo developments:

Steve Witkoff and Len Blavatnik scored big at their High Line condo project, which at one point appeared as though it might end up as one of the biggest busts in New York history.

Meanwhile, Zeckendorf Development and Atlas Capital Group secured what may be Manhattan’s largest residential construction loan since before the pandemic.

Lenders doled out dollars across several asset classes. Despite market headwinds, two office projects scored refinancings in August, although the Stahl Organization had to chip in $250 million for its Midtown office tower deal. A once-struggling hotel portfolio scored financing in August, along with six residential projects.

Here are more details.

High Line, high life | $1.15B | Chelsea

JP Morgan and Tyko Capital provided a $1.15 billion loan to Steve Witkoff’s Witkoff Group and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries for their High Line condo project, One High Line.

The site was owned by Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital Group before the firm collapsed. Witkoff and Blavatnik came in and took over the project in 2021. The development spans a full block at 500 West 18th Street next to the elevated park and includes 236 condos across two towers and a planned 5-star Faena Hotel.

West Side windfall | $1B | West Village

London-based Cale Street Partners and San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management provided a $1 billion construction loan to Zeckendorf Development and Atlas Capital Group for their project at 80 Clarkson Street.

The development between Houston and Clarkson streets on the West Side Highway will have over 100 luxury condos in two towers.

Office assist | $750M | Midtown

A subsidiary of Deutsche Bank lent $750 to the Stahl Organization for its trophy office tower at 277 Park Avenue. The refinancing came with a considerable cost. The landlord had to kick in $250 million for building improvements to secure the latest loan as the previous mortgage was about to expire.

Stahl has owned the 1.8-million-square-foot, 51-story property for more than six decades and the property is 97 percent leased.

Macy’s moolah | $301M | Downtown Brooklyn

Starwood Property Trust provided a $301 million loan to Tishman Speyer for the historic Macy’s building in Downtown Brooklyn, where it erected 10 floors of offices on top of the original Abraham & Straus department store.

Macy’s partnered with Tishman to redevelop the 143-year-old office-and-retail building at 422 Fulton Street. The development incorporates the store’s original cast-iron facade into an office building called the Wheeler, where Tishman built 622,000 square feet of Class A office space.

Hotel haul | $230M | Lower Manhattan

JPMorgan Chase provided a $230 million loan to Hartz Mountain Industries for two Manhattan hotels – the Soho Grand and the Roxy. The loan replaced a $250 million CMBS loan issued by Credit Suisse. Billionaire Leonard Stern’s Hartz Mountain built the Soho Grand at 310 West Broadway in 1996 and bought the Roxy at 2 Sixth Avenue in 1999.

In 2021, Stern wanted to hand the keys over to its lenders on the hotels after the hotel’s financials were severely impacted by the Covid-19 shutdown and its ability to cover its debt service decreased significantly.

Shelter sweep | $210M | Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Bronx portfolio

JP Morgan Chase provided a $210 million refi to Slate Property Group for a sprawling portfolio of homeless shelters and social services offices.

Among the properties is the Salvation Army rehab center at 62 Hanson Place in Brooklyn and the adjacent lot, which Slate Property Group bought for $43 million two years ago. Other buildings include 427 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, 1851 Phelan Place, 1732 Webster Avenue and 360 East 193rd Street in the Bronx; 85-15 101st Avenue in Queens; 141 West 144th Street, and three units at 161 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, and 399 Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

Legion loot | $195M | Upper East Side

Deutsche Bank and JVP Management provided a $195 construction loan to Victor Sigoura’s Legion Investment Group for its latest Upper East Side condo project. Legion and Genghis Hadi’s Nahla Capital have cobbled together a $95 million assemblage and are planning a 22-unit luxury condo building with Central Park views on the southwest corner of Madison and East 84th Street.

Fit for a Queens | $105M | Long Island City

Wells Fargo provided a $105 loan to Rockrose Development for a 19-story, mixed-use development at 43-14 Queens Street. The 193,725 square foot building will have 301 apartments and about 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, according to New York YIMBY.

Goose bump | $98M | Long Island City

Affinius Capital provided a $98 million loan to Yitzchok Katz’s Goose Property Management for its Long Island City rental project. Goose, a partner of the better known, Brooklyn-based Rabsky Group, secured the refi for properties at 31-17 & 32-03 39th Avenue, a multifamily project that sits on two lots across the street from each other. The two buildings total 193 units and more than 200,000 square feet.

The Jay play | $50M | Downtown Brooklyn

G4 Capital Partners provided a $50 million loan to the Jay Group to finance its purchase of several Downtown Brooklyn properties. The Bedford-Stuyvesant developer acquired several properties across from Brodsky Development’s City Point development. Jay Group spent $62.5 million on the sites, which include 102 Fleet Place, 165 Willoughby Street and 275 Flatbush Avenue Extension, plus another $12.5 million on air rights from 147 Pearl Street.