NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group LLC has arranged a $142 million mortgage for the acquisition of a 686,000-square-foot office tower in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. A joint venture between tri-state real estate company RXR Realty LLC and American Landmark Properties Ltd. has acquired the Class A property.
A CMBS lender provided the five-year loan, which includes interest-only payments for the full term.
“Given the strength of the sponsor and Meridian’s very strong CMBS lender relationships, we were able to structure the financing around the ground lease and accommodate RXR Realty’s time-of-the-essence closing requirements,” says Rael Gervis, managing director at Meridian.
Located at 470 Vanderbilt Ave., the 10-story building is in proximity to Barclay’s Center and the Atlantic Yards project. The property was approximately 89 percent leased at the time of the sale to tenants including the City of New York and The League Education & Treatment Center, a non-profit serving children and adults with developmental differences.
RXR Realty will market the 55,000 square feet of vacant office space within the tower to media and technology tenants, says chairman and CEO Scott Rechler. The asset also includes 20,000 square feet of vacant retail space.
“The 470 Vanderbilt Avenue acquisition represents an opportunity for us to buy a building with healthy current returns generated by credit tenants, while also participating in the amazing transformation that is taking place across Brooklyn,” says Rechler. “We are extremely excited to build on the work done by previous owners of the building, integrating it into the booming communities that surround it on all sides.”
GFI Development sold the building to the joint venture in late February for a total purchase price of $194.5 million, or about $300 per square foot, according to a release on RXR Realty’s website. The asset features multiple lobbies and elevator banks, as well as recently renovated mechanical and electrical systems.
Gervis and Reuven Hellman of Meridian arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower. Founded in 1991, New York-headquartered Meridian Capital Group secures financing for transactions in a variety of property sectors ranging in value from $1 million to more than $500 million.
— John McCurdy