Torkian Group Takes $105M Construction Loan for Koreatown Development
By Terence Cullen September 10, 2015 12:00 pm
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Israel-based Bank Leumi has provided a $105 million construction loan for a residential development in Manhattan’s Koreatown, Commercial Observer can exclusively report.
The loan will fund The Torkian Group’s project at 38 West 33rd Street—a 220,000-square-foot, multifamily tower between Avenue of the Americas and Fifth Avenue.
The three-year debt carries a Libor-based floating rate, no prepayment penalty and interest-only payments throughout the entire term, according to Meridian Capital Group, which arranged the financing.
Meridian Senior Managing Director Ronnie Levine and Vice President Aggelos Sklavenitis negotiated the debt deal.
“By leveraging our strong lending relationships, Meridian was able to secure construction financing from a balance sheet lender, facilitating the development of a Class A residential rental asset in the heart of Manhattan,” Mr. Levine said in prepared remarks provided to CO.
While a hard completion date has not been set, website New York Yimby reported in June that excavation of the site was well underway.
When the property is finished, about 170,000 square feet will be filled with 202 rental apartments—coming out to about 850 square feet per unit, Yimby reported last September. Once completed, the residential property will also contain a 4,300-square-foot retail space on the lower portion of the tower in addition to a 40-car parking garage.
Torkian paid $30 million for the site in 2007, property records show.
Before development began, the property housed a 325-car parking garage. The Torkian Group also bought air rights for the building from Rick’s Cabaret, a nightclub on the same block at 50 West 33rd Street, in October 2013 for $13.2 million, records show.
