NEW YORK CITY — Merdian Capital Group has arranged $7.4 million in bridge financing for a mixed-use property located on Metropolitan Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The sponsor’s existing loan was maturing, and the company is waiting on a certificate of occupancy before refinancing with a traditional, long-term, balance sheet lender. Meridian arranged an 18-month bridge loan with a rate of 7.8 percent with interest-only payments. Judah Hammer and Michael Ryback of Meridian arranged the transaction. The four-story property features 17 studio, one- and two-bedroom units as well as three retail tenants on the ground level.
NEW YORK CITY — Global design firm CallisonRTKL has signed a 10-year lease at the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway in Manhattan. Mitchell Konsker and David Dusek of JLL represented CallisonRTKL in the transaction. The Lawrence Group represented the building’s owner, The Witkoff Group. CallisonRTKL signed a 28,096-square-foot lease for the entire 16th floor of the building. Architect Cass Gilbert designed The Woolworth Building, which opened in 1912. From 1912 until 1930, it was the world’s tallest building. The Witkoff Group acquired the property in 1998 and restored the historic building.
Amherst, N.Y. — China-based real estate private equity fund OC Ventures has acquired Twenty 91 North, a 640-bed student housing community located near the University at Buffalo in Amherst. TSB Realty brokered the acquisition of the property from University Student Living and Harrison Street Real Estate. The community was built in 2016, and offers shared amenities including a resort-style pool; a game area with a pool table, ping-pong and shuffleboard; a study lounge; computer lab; fitness center; and private shuttle service.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group has arranged the $25 million refinancing of a retail and parking facility in Brooklyn. The 10-year CMBS loan features a rate of 4.86 percent and full-term, interest-only payments. Steven Ribiat, Morris Diamant and Tzvi Krieger of Meridian’s New York office arranged the financing for the transaction with the undisclosed borrower. Located at 236 Atlantic Ave., the 69,000-square-foot property was constructed less than 10 years ago and features 24,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space as well as a parking garage. Current tenants include PetSmart and PM Pediatrics. The building also includes 42 residential condominiums on the upper floors that were not part of the collateral.
NEW YORK CITY — Columbia Property Trust has sold 222 E. 41st St., a 390,000-square-foot office tower in Midtown Manhattan, for $332.5 million. Commerz Real, the real estate investment management arm of German Commerzbank, purchased the property. CBRE’s capital markets team represented Columbia in the transaction. The building was originally constructed in 2001. Law firm Jones Day occupied the 25-story building from 2007 until 2016. When the Jones Day lease expired, Columbia signed NYU Langone Medical Center to a full-building, 30-year lease. The building has since been converted into a multi-specialty ambulatory care facility that began accepting patients last month. “We were very pleased to secure an esteemed tenant on a long-term lease, which significantly increased the value of the property,” says Nelson Mills, president and chief executive officer of Columbia. “Proceeds will further strengthen our balance sheet in the near term and will eventually be recycled into higher growth investment opportunities.” Following this disposition, Columbia’s portfolio now includes seven New York City properties after the recent purchase of 149 Madison Ave. in November and the acquisition of 245-249 W. 17th St. and 218 W. 18th St. in October. — David Cohen
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK) has agreed to acquire RKF Retail Holdings LLC, a real estate firm specializing in retail leasing, for an undisclosed price. The acquisition is expected to close later this year, and will grow New York-based Newmark’s already robust retail business, which includes leasing, investment sales and retail occupier services alongside Excess Space Retail Services Inc., a Newmark company specializing in real estate disposition and lease restructuring. Robert K. Futterman will serve as chairman of Newmark RKF, Newmark’s retail leasing division, and will be responsible for leading the growth of the company’s retail real estate business throughout North America.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Investment Sales has brokered the $22.5 million sale of three contiguous mixed-use buildings in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Williamsburg neighborhood underwent gentrification starting in the late 1990s mostly due to low rents. Average rents today range from $1,400 for a studio apartment to $2,600 to $4,000 for a two-bedroom unit. Located at 119-123 Kent Avenue, the buildings contain 17 fully renovated residential apartment units and three ground-floor retail units. David Schechtman, Lipa Lieberman and Abie Kassin of Meridian represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer was a private family via a 1031 exchange. Meridian also arranged $12 million in acquisition financing through a local savings bank.
NEW YORK CITY — Leviathan Capital has arranged $7.3 million in permanent mortgage financing for a mixed-use property in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan. The property consists of 10 apartments and one retail unit occupied by a long-term tenant. Leviathan secured a 10-year, fixed-rate loan at 4.26 percent with five years of interest-only financing. The lender, a money center bank, charged no origination fee. The borrower was a local owner-operator.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based real estate investment manager Savanna has acquired a 682,988-square-foot office and retail property in Midtown Manhattan for $640 million. The property, known as 5 Bryant Park, was purchased from an affiliate of Blackstone. Savanna plans to modernize the property through a capital improvement program that will include a redesigned lobby, entrance and building signage. 5 Bryant Park is located directly across from Bryant Park on Sixth Avenue and features 100 feet of frontage facing the park. A joint team of JLL and HFF represented Savanna in the financing of the acquisition. Laurie Grasso of Hunton Andrews Kurth represented Savanna as legal counsel in the transaction. CBRE has been selected as the exclusive leasing agent for the property.
NEW YORK CITY — Mortar Development has acquired a development site located at 31 Frost St. in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The sales price was undisclosed. Mortar plans to build a five-story, 15,000-square-foot residential condominium building with 10 units on the site. Construction is expected to begin this summer with the project expected to be completed in early 2020.