NEW YORK CITY — Northwind Group, a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager, has provided two loans totaling $427 million for a pair of office-to-residential conversion projects in New York City.
In the first deal, Northwind funded a $208 million loan for the partial conversion of 141 Willoughby Street, a 24-story 355,000-square-foot office building in downtown Brooklyn. The borrower, a joint venture between Capstone Equities and BH3 Fund Advisors, plans to redevelop the office space on floors eight through 23 into 239 apartments.
Ownership plans to maintain office usage across the first seven floors of 141 Willoughby, which was originally constructed in 2023 but never occupied. Future residents will have access to amenities such as a fitness center, entertainment lounge, coworking space, wellness center, golf simulator, sports court, games room and a children’s playroom, along with landscaped terraces on the 10th and 20th floors and a full-time attended lobby.
Lastly, the new ownership of 141 Willoughby, which has rebranded the building as 385 Gold, will maintain separate entrances and exits between the office and residential components. An expected completion date was not announced.
“[The building at] 141 Willoughby Street was designed to an institutional standard, with ceiling heights, natural light, floor plates and amenities that will translate extremely well to residential use,” says Adam Falk, principal and co-portfolio manager at BH3 Fund Advisors.
“[This] brand-new, institutionally built tower allows the sponsor to execute a streamlined, largely interior scope of work without the tenancy and structural risks that typically accompany office-to-residential projects,” adds Ran Eliasaf, founder and managing partner at Northwind Group.
In the second transaction, Northwind provided $219 million in financing for the partial conversion of 100 Wall Street, a 29-story, 463,000-square-foot office building in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District. The borrower, a joint venture between BLDG Management and David Werner Real Estate Investments, plans to transform the office space on floors two through 11 into 168 apartments.
The joint venture acquired 100 Wall Street in summer 2024 and has since worked to relocate tenants on lower levels to higher floors. Future residents will have access to amenities such as a pool, fitness center, sports simulator, theater and a rooftop deck with an outdoor kitchen. Gensler is the project architect, and Triton Construction is the general contractor. A tentative completion date was not announced.
“[The building at] 100 Wall Street is uniquely suited for adaptive reuse, allowing us to create 168 luxury residences while maintaining a Class A office component with best-in-class amenities,” says Justin Kleinman, executive vice president and COO at BLDG Management.
“We believe 100 Wall Street is an ideal conversion that will deliver 168 much-needed residential units to the city, and the fact that the office component is already over 95 percent occupied and cash flowing is very positive,” adds Eliasaf. “This is the eighth conversion project we have financed in the city, and we are implementing all experience we have learned as we continue expanding our credit platform into this strategy.”
Rob Turner and Ethan Pond of Eastdil Secured Savills arranged the debt for 141 Willoughby. No third-party financial intermediaries were named in the 100 Wall Street deal.
- Taylor Williams