NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based mortgage banking firm Meridian Capital Group and global investment manager Barings have launched a new multifamily lending platform that will be headed by former Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman, who left the agency late last year. Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will acquire the assets and liabilities of Barings Multifamily Capital and operate that entity’s origination and servicing businesses for its portfolio of agency loans. The philosophy behind the new venture centers on leveraging the depth and reach of the platform of Meridian Capital, which in 2020 closed approximately $40 billion in loans via deals with more than 250 unique lenders. The newly created platform will be operated as a standalone business under its own name and branding, which will be announced prior to the transaction closing. Meridian will own a majority of the newly created platform, the day-to-day operations of which will be overseen by Brickman. “Our partnership with Barings will enable us to join forces with one of the world’s leading asset managers and reintroduce Meridian to the direct agency lending arena,” said Ralph Herzka, chairman and CEO of Meridian Capital. “The addition of David Brickman to our executive …
CANANDAIGUA, BROCKPORT AND FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Greystone has provided a $61.2 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of a portfolio of multifamily properties totaling 769 units in Upstate New York. The portfolio comprises the 295-unit Centerpointe Apartments & Townhomes in Canandaigua, the 160-unit Willowbrooke Manor Apartments in Brockport and the 314-unit Highview Manor Apartments & Townhomes in Fairport. Drew Fletcher, Matthew Hirsch and Paul Fried of Greystone originated the financing, which was structured with a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate, on behalf of the borrower, locally based investment and development firm Sinatra & Co. Real Estate.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has negotiated the sale of the 443-room New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott hotel in Queens. The building spans 224,620 square feet and houses the Ditmars Bar & Grill restaurant, a fitness center and 13,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The property received $30 million in renovations in 2018, including reconfigurations of public spaces and meeting areas, as well as remodeling of guest rooms and upgrading of parking lots. K.C. Patel, Kevin Davis and Nikhil Chuchra of JLL represented the seller, Rubicon Cos., in the transaction. California-based ASAP Holdings purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
NEW YORK CITY — Freshly, a provider of meal kit services that was recently acquired by Nestlé USA, has signed a 92,306-square-foot office lease at 63 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The company’s new headquarters space will encompass the 12th and 13th floors at the Class A building. Eric Ferriello of Colliers International represented Freshly, which is expanding and relocating from a 20,000-square-foot space at 115 E. 23rd St., in the lease negotiations. Peter Duncan, Matt Coudert and Alex Bermingham represented the landlord, George Comfort & Sons Inc., on an internal basis. The building was recently renovated, and a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market is planned to open on the ground floor.
NEW YORK CITY — Tishman Speyer has topped out The Spiral, a 2.8 million-square-foot office tower located within Manhattan’s Hudson Yards mixed-use development. The 1,031-foot, 65-story building encompasses an entire city block between West 34th to West 35th streets and from 10th Avenue to the four-acre Bella Abzug Park. The Spiral, which was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and is expected to open in 2022, is the future site of the global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which will occupy 746,000 square feet. Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is also relocating its headquarters to The Spiral with a footprint of 531,000 square feet, while asset management firm AllianceBernstein has also committed to 166,000 square feet, bringing the building’s preleased occupancy rate to 51 percent. Tenants on every floor will have access to outdoor space as part of a series of spiraling landscaped terraces and hanging gardens that wrap around the façade of the tower. The building will also house 25,000 square feet of retail space.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based real estate private equity firm Madison Realty Capital has broken ground on a 478-unit multifamily project in the Woodside area of Queens. Roughly 30 percent (143 residences) of the units in the building, which will also include 15,000 square feet of retail space, will be designated as affordable housing. Residential amenities will include a fitness center with a separate yoga room, a media lounge, laundry room, storage room, parking lot, bike storage, tenant lounge, rooftop terrace with a recreation kitchen and onsite parking. As part of the larger project, Madison Realty Capital is also developing a 78,000-square-foot public elementary school in partnership with the New York City School Construction Authority and Department of Education. The school will serve about 475 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. A tentative completion date was not released.
NEW YORK CITY — Urban Standard Capital, a locally based lending and investment firm, has provided a $20 million loan for the refinancing of 265 W. 37th St., a 23-story office building in Midtown Manhattan that includes ground-floor retail space. The borrower, Meyer Equities, will use portions of the proceeds to buy out its partner and to fund tenant improvements and leasing costs at the 263,349-square-foot building. Charlie Brosens of Urban Standard Capital originated the interest-only financing, which was structured with a 24-month term and a 5.25 percent interest rate.
NEW YORK CITY — Liquor producer Beam Suntory has signed a 99,556-square-foot office lease at 11 Madison Avenue in Manhattan for its new global headquarters. The 15-year lease covers the entire 12th floor and brings the 30-story building to full occupancy. David Kleinhandler, James Whalen, Maura Flanagan and Joe Cybulski of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Brian Waterman, Scott Klau, Erik Harris and Brent Ozarowski of Newmark represented the landlord, SL Green. The building, which currently houses tenants such as Credit Suisse and SONY Corp. of America, will also house a global office of Beam Suntory’s parent company, Suntory Holdings.
NEW YORK CITY — NorthMarq has provided a $44.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Briarwood Gardens, a 514-unit multifamily property located in the Jamaica area of Queens. The property was built in the 1950s and offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units, as well as a playground, dog park and onsite laundry facilities. Robert Ranieri of NorthMarq originated the fixed-rate loan. The borrower was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has arranged a $34.4 million bridge loan for the refinancing of a 117-unit apartment building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The property, which includes 4,000 square feet of commercial space, was originally built as a pencil factory and was converted to multifamily in 2012. A private lender provided the five-year loan, which was structured with a 3.65 percent interest rate, three years of interest-only payments and a 75 percent loan-to-value ratio. Steven Rock of MMCC originated the debt. The borrower was not disclosed.