CW Realty Seals $38M Refi on Converted Williamsburg Warehouse
By Matt Grossman March 1, 2019 6:19 pm
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CW Realty has secured a $38 million financing on a Williamsburg warehouse building it bought two years ago, according to property records.
The financing package, spearheaded by JLJ Capital, refinances $21.8 million in previous debt from Churchill Real Estate Holdings from 2017 and adds $16.2 million in new leverage. The deal carries a one-year term, according to Jonathan Lewis, the CEO of JLJ, who confirmed the transaction.
CW, led by Cheskie Weisz, bought the 50,000-square-foot industrial building, 61 North 11th Street, for $35.5 million in 2017 and converted it to office space with a ground-floor retail component, according to permits for the project filed with the New York City Department of Buildings. The JLJ loan is meant to tide CW over as the building leases up, Lewis said.
“It’s an interesting and slightly funky project,” Lewis remarked. “But [Weisz] is a very experienced borrower.”
Lewis added that another lender participated in the deal, but—reached on the road—he couldn’t provide the details.
The 5-story building has 19.5-foot ceilings, according to CW’s website. The asset stands just off the Franklin Street thoroughfare, about midway between McCarren Park and the East River.
Since May 2018, 15,000 square feet on the third floor of 61 North 11th have been leased to XX House, a planned women’s membership club and shared workspace. The notion takes the lead of The Wing, a string of women’s clubs that has grown to several cities since its founding in 2016. A spokeswoman for the club told Commercial Observer last year that the club would open in 2019’s third or fourth quarter.
JLJ concentrates on construction and bridge lending on multifamily and commercial projects. Most of its recent deals were in or near New York City, but it also lent $3 million to the buyer of a warehouse in San Antonio, according to its website.
The company, led by Lewis and Jeffrey Siebold, the chief lending officer, has lent about $180 million in the last two years.
“We’re growing slowly and quietly,” Lewis said.
Weisz didn’t respond to an inquiry right away.
