Times Square property developments secure $1 billion in loans

520 Fifth Avenue, 1450 Broadway and 1 Times Square (Kohn Pedersen Fox, 1450 Broadway, Bernt Rostad from Oslo Norway edited by Yarl CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
ART: 1450 Broadway, 520 Fifth Avenue, 1 Times Square
Manhattan’s 10 largest home loans recorded in April totaled about $1.7 billion, a healthy $500 million from March’s total and nearly double the amount last April.
Times Square has been at the center of some of the biggest deals of the past month, including a refinancing of the former Bertelsmann building and an extension to One Times Square, where the New Year’s Ball falls.
Here are more details on the borough’s biggest home loans in April:
1. Timely refreshment in Times Square | $445 million
Edge Fund Advisors and HSBC, owners of 1540 Broadway, the 44-story former Bertelsmann building in Times Square, received $445 million to refinance the senior loan for the office part of the building. The lenders were Apollo Global Management, Michael Dell’s MSD Partners and Monarch Alternative Capital. The loan included $96 million in new debt, for a total refinancing program of $590 million.
Developed by Bruce Eichner in the late 1980s for German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, the project went bankrupt in the early 1990s, but its owners recently spent $40 million on equipment and energy upgrades. Vornado Realty Trust owns the commercial portion of the building.
2. Mixed Use Muscle | $410 million
OZK bank provided $410 million, including $300 million in construction loans, to Rabina for its ongoing 70-story tower at 520 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Carlyle’s Global Credit business contributed $130 million on the mezzanine level, for a total of $540 million. Debt from Bank OZK replaces an acquisition loan used by Rabina to buy the land for $205 million in 2019. The tower will be the second tallest on Fifth Avenue after the Empire State Building and will feature 98 residences over 16 floors , as well as offices and shops.
3. Party hats on | $290 million
JPMorgan Chase on loan $290 million, including $128 million in construction funds, at One Times Square, where the New Year’s Ball falls. Developer Jamestown is reportedly spending $500 million to renovate the long-empty building thanks to a total debt of $425 million. The top of the building is set to receive a new observation deck and 12 floors of the 118-year-old building will be open to the public.
4. Heal the Hayworth | $160 million
JPMorgan Chase loaned Zeckendorf Development $159.7 million, including $23 million in new project debt, for its purchase of Hayworth, a 61-unit condo project at 1289 Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. Zeckendorf bought the building from UK lender Children’s Investment Fund, which took ownership of Ceruzzi Development through an auction in January.
5. Ready to Pack Meat | $123 million
German bank Deutsche Pfandbriefbank on loan $123.4 million to Aurora Capital Associates at 809 Washington Street, an office building in the Meatpacking District, including $63 million in new debt that will cover a renovation and expansion of the property. The loan replaces debt held by JPMorgan Chase.
6. Sunrise, sunset | $80 million
Fortress Investment Group is now the primary lender of 141 Houston Street East, a new boutique office building on the Lower East Side, after providing a $79.6 million loan including $31.6 million in fresh funds to developer East End Capital to complete construction. The office building replaces cinema of the sunwhich closed in 2018.
7. Refined Art Deco | $70 million
The mortgage arm of the insurer MetLife provided $70 million in loans to Rose Associates for the refinancing of 21 West Street, a 33-story Art Deco residential building in the Financial District with 293 units. The loan replaces the debt held by the insurance company Axa Equitable Life Insurance.
8. Chetrit goes shopping | $63 million
Madison Realty Capital on loan $63 million to Chetrit Organization for its purchase of 275 Cherry Street, a Two Bridges development site also known as 265 South Street, from CIM Group and L+M. Plans call for a two-tower building on the site with 1,300 residential units.
9. Scale in Soho | $57 million
Ladder Capital has invested $57 million to take over as lead lender at 446 Broadway, a Soho office and retail building owned by KPG. The total funding is $64 million including additional funding from Heitman. The building’s tenants include video post-production company Cabin Editing, Danish business networking company The Org and online equity investment firm Rally.
10. NoMad World | $47 million
The New York Community Bank loaned Stellar Management $46.7 million to refinance its 99,000 square foot office building at 44 West 28th Street in NoMad. The loan replaces debt previously held by Signature Bank. The Artsy Poster House Poster Museum is the ground floor tenant.