Bluestone, Mack Real Estate Provide $148M Refi for Six-Site NYC Redevelopment Portfolio
By Cathy Cunningham September 21, 2018 6:17 pm
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Private investor Robert Gans has closed a $148 million refinance for six redevelopment sites totaling more than 1 million square feet in Manhattan and Queens, Commercial Observer has learned.
Bluestone Group affiliate Bluestone Capital led the origination of the $148 million loan and Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies took a senior participation of $130 million.
Meridian Capital Group’s Shaya Ackerman and Shaya Sonnenschein negotiated the three-year bridge loan, which features a rate of 650 basis points over LIBOR. Officials at the brokerage declined to comment on the details of the financing, or to identify the borrower.
Of the four Manhattan properties—whose exact addresses couldn’t be identified by press time—two sites are located in Hell’s Kitchen—one on 11th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets, one site in West Chelsea and one site is in Soho. The remaining two sites are located in the Astoria and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens.
Gans controls a portfolio of real estate assets and operating businesses throughout Manhattan. Zoning permits a variety of uses across the portfolio financed, diversifying its potential redevelopment opportunities, sources said.
Bluestone Capital, led by co-founders Eli Tabak and Marc Mendelsohn, has been aggressively expanding its bridge lending platform lately. In January it originated a $109 million bridge loan for Hong Kong Supermarket owner Jeffrey Wu’s building at 41-60 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, as reported by The Real Deal.
And only last week, Mack closed on a $65 million loan for Related Companies‘ acquisition of a Hudson Yards development site 517 West 35th Street.
Gans and officials at Bluestone Group could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Mack Real Estate declined to comment.
