Koreans make $350M loan on luxury Centrale condo
Douglas Elliman is the exclusive sales agent for the property
Seoul-based conglomerate Meritz has made its first foray in the the New York City apartment market with a $350 million loan on Ceruzzi Property’s luuxury condo The Centrale. The 124-unit luxury condominium tower at 138 East 50th Street in the Midtown East opened last fall and has closed on 21 units at an average price of nearly $4 million each. Nine are currenlty in contract and there are 22 “active sales,” according to StreetEasy.
The new loan pays off a previous $300 million construction loan Madison Realty Capital provided to Ceruzzi in 2017. “We are pleased with the seamless execution of this latest financing between all parties involved,” said Ceruzzi President Arthur Hooper. “In addition, we are very appreciative of the original construction loan that Madison Realty Capital provided on the property, which allowed us to complete this remarkable asset within the original timeline.” The 803 ft, 63-story tower features 8,527 /f of retail space at and below grade, and a 25-space parking garage, with a façade designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Ceruzzi completed The Centrale in early 2019 and has begun selling condos at the project. VI Development Group advised Meritz on the transaction and tapped PIA Asset Management to enter as the asset management company for the project.
New boutique office building headed
for East Village’s St. Mark’s
A rendering of 1 St. Marks Place
Another high-priced, boutique office building is moving forward in Midtown South. Real Estate Equities Corp.’s development at 1 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village landed a nearly $80 million construction loan, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday. South Korean financial services firm Hana Financial Group provided the $79.1 million loan, then sold the $48 million first mortgage to Madison Realty Capital and held onto a $31.1 million mezzanine loan.
VI Development Group arranged the debt. A representative for REEC — headed by Brandon Miller and Mark Siegel — declined to comment. REEC is planning to develop a 10-story, 65,000-square-foot office building on the site at the corner of St. Mark’s Place and Third Avenue. The developers will be eyeing rents in the area of $150 per square foot. Such figures were once only seen in the most expensive locations in Midtown but now are commonplace for newly constructed office buildings in areas like the Meatpacking District, Soho and Greenwich Village.
The site at 1 St. Mark’s sits across the street from Minskoff Equities’ 51 Astor Place, the glass and steel building that arguably set the standard for new office construction when it opened in 2013. At the time, it was derided by locals as being out of character with the East Village’s complexion. (That property was also financed by a South Korean investor, the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union, which in 2015 bought a 49-percent stake in the property valuing it at $600 million.) Elsewhere in the area, Normandy Real Estate Partners and Columbia Property Trust are developing a 180,000-square-foot office building a few blocks north at 799 Broadway. REEC controls the St. Mark’s property through a 99-year lease it signed in 2017 for north of $150 million.
Goodbye bankruptcy, hello construction loan:
Breakthrough for Tribeca hotel project
Reorganization sees Caspi Development take the reins from Mactaggart Family & Partners
After years of headaches, the long-delayed luxury hotel project at 456 Greenwich Street has finally secured a construction loan and is emerging from bankruptcy.The partnership entity, CBCS Washington Street LP, received confirmation for a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court earlier this week, court filings show. The plan includes a three-year, $135 million construction loan commitment from South Korea’s Hana Financial Investment.
“The project can see the light again,” said Joshua Caspi of Caspi Development, one of the co-general partners, in an announcement Thursday. The 96-key hotel is currently slated to open in April 2022 under the Hotel Barriere Le Fouquet brand.The Hana loan, which was arranged by VI Development Group’s Terence Park, will carry an interest rate of LIBOR plus 8 percent. It is the first construction financing the partnership has secured since entering into a ground lease with the Ponte family in 2013.When the developers filed for bankruptcy this March, they claimed that the Pontes’ refusal to amend lease terms had long thwarted their efforts to get a loan for the project.
CBCS Washington Street LP, whose complex organizational structure was already completely changed from what it was at the commencement of the lease, went through another major restructuring over the course of the bankruptcy proceedings when one of the general partners was bought out by a minority investor, court documents show.As previously reported by The Real Deal, the 99-year ground lease on the site was first arranged by budget hotel king Sam Chang and Barone Development, who later transferred their interest in the partnership to Mactaggart Family & Partners and Caspi. (The name of the entity, CBCS, still appears to reflect the names of the original partners — Chang, Barone, Chou and Silviano.)Mactaggart Family & Partners, the co-investment platform of a family of Scottish aristocrats, had long played the more active role in the partnership. Mactaggart CFO Ivaylo Ninov provided the bulk of the affidavits and declarations on behalf of the partnership in court proceedings — including a curious allegation that the Pontes may have been colluding with the Related Companies to force them out of the ground lease.
Bread & Butter Leases 13K-Plus Square Feet
in Midtown West
Deli and grocery joint Bread & Butter is opening its third location with a new branding concept, according to chain owner Terence Park of VI Group.
“We are putting in new Bread & Butter 2.0. We have developed new branding for Bread & Butter and this will be our third location with the new branding concept,” Park told Commercial Observer. “The other two locations are 462 Seventh Avenue and 401 East 34th Street.”
Bread & Butter has taken 13,436 square feet at APF Properties’ 25 West 56th Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, which has an alternate address of 24-26 West 57th Street, CoStar Group shows. The space includes 5,248 square feet on the ground floor, 4,196 square feet on the mezzanine level and 3,992 square feet below grade, according to CBRE marketing materials.
This location will be larger and higher end than the original Bread & Butters, “catering to the Plaza West clientele,” said CBRE’s Amira Yunis, who noted there will be a larger seating area with a greater array of food. Yunis represented both sides in the deal along with CBRE’s Anthony Stanford.
The lease is for 15 years, CoStar indicates. The asking rent was $1 million per year, a source with knowledge of the deal said.There are three Bread & Butter locations employing the old design and logo in Manhattan—at 419 Park Avenue South, 303 Fifth Avenue and 14 East 44th Street. They are known for selling an eclectic mix of food options from sandwiches to salads to stir fry and ramen.Park also last month signed a deal to bring specialty grocery store Hudson Market to the Durst Organization’s rental building Helena 57 West at 601 West 57th Street, for its second Manhattan location.
