RXR Refinances Pier 57 With $375M Loan From Nuveen Real Estate

Nuveen Real Estate provided the 10-year balance sheet loan for the redeveloped historic asset, $50 million of which acts as a funding facility for the completion of the property’s renovation and tenant inclusion.

The historic pier—originally constructed in 1952—sits at the very end of West 15th Street at the edge of the Meatpacking District and comprises 560,000 square feet.

Ackman-Ziff President Simon Ziff and Principal Russell Schildkraut arranged the financing, which replaces a $225 million redevelopment loan from PNC, provided in 2016.

Since the time of the previous financing, the developers have substantially completed the work to redevelop the pier, and anchor tenant Google (GOOGL) has expanded its space from the 250,000 square feet it initially leased.

The tech giant has now leased roughly 350,000 square feet at the facility, further expanding its already-impressive West Side footprint. Google committed to a lease at the property around the same time as its $2.4 billion purchase of the Chelsea Market building, having already owned its headquarters at 111 Eighth Avenue.

Building on a pier over water has an inherent “level” of complexity—no pun intended—but Google’s space was delivered ahead of schedule.

Crain’s New York Business reported that City Winery—the Soho music venue, restaurant and wine maker—also inked a deal for 32,000 square feet at the former shipping and passenger terminal.

There was stiff competition for the loan with foreign and domestic banks as well as alternative lenders duking it out for the deal, Mike Maturo, the president of RXR Realty, told CO.

Google is currently in the process of setting up shop in the 480,000-square-foot office component of the development. There will also be an 80,000-square-foot public park on the building’s roof and 34,000 square feet of public esplanades around the 900-foot structure.

“We’re very excited about the project,” Maturo said. “It’s an enormous asset for the Hudson Park area. In certain respects it creates a continuation of Google’s assemblage of properties in that area. We also have the public rooftop park, which the Tribeca Film Festival will be part of. It’s all coming together nicely, and once it’s activated over the next 12 to 18 months, it will be very exciting.”

The development team has worked closely with the Hudson River Park Trust throughout the project’s redevelopment and tenanting.

The Pier is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, largely due to the unique and innovative engineering techniques used to keep it afloat: Three concrete, watertight chambers support the structure rather than traditional piles.

Officials at Nuveen Real Estate weren’t immediately available for comment.