The Essex Nabs $215M CMBS Loan Led by JPM, Goldman Sachs
The property is the latest of nine sites that will make up the 1.9-million-square-foot mixed-use complex Essex Crossing in the Lower East Side
By Mack Burke October 29, 2019 12:06 pm
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The joint venture that is constructing the Essex Crossing mega development in the Lower East Side has nabbed $215 million in permanent financing from J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs’ commercial mortgage-backed securities division on the project’s main mixed-use residential building, The Essex, according to information from the developers.
The loan was provided to Delancey Street Associates, a JV between L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, Taconic Investment Partners, Prusik Group and Goldman Sachs (GS) Urban Investment Group. A representative for the developers declined to provide loan terms or information about its eventual securitization.
The Essex — designed by Handel Architects — is a 26-story mixed-use project located at 125 Delancey Street, between Essex and Norfolk Streets, which houses the historic, publicly owned and vendor-based grocer Essex Market at its base.
The fully leased, roughly 200,000-square-foot property features 195 apartment units, 50 percent of which are designated as affordable, and a 14-screen Regal Essex Crossing cinema. Along with Essex Market, it also includes the first phase of what will become a 100-vendor, 150,000-square-foot food hall and marketplace called The Market Line (set to open in November); the first phase includes the addition of 30 vendors.
The property is one of nine sites that make up the partnership’s 1.9-million-square-foot Essex Crossing mixed-use development. Construction on The Essex wrapped in January and leasing started that month, according to the developers and information from CoStar (CSGP) Group.
“Essex Crossing is well on its way to being one of New York City’s most exciting places to live, work and visit and The Essex is right at the heart of the action,” L+M Development Partners managing director Isaac Henderson said in a prepared statement. “With 195 fully leased, mixed-income apartments, the historic Essex Market, The Market Line and Regal Essex Crossing all under one roof, The Essex has become a hub of activity on the Lower East Side.”
AKS Capital Partners co-founders Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland and Adam Schwartz, formerly of JLL (JLL), arranged the financing on behalf of the borrowing party.
“The Essex is a trophy asset along with best in class sponsorship,” AKS’ Jonathan Schwartz said in prepared remarks. “Given these factors, and its location within the highly successful Essex Crossing development, it was a very attractive proposition for the lending community.”
Other amenities at the project include a social lounge with billiards, a private meeting room, a garden terrace with outside dining space and grills, a rooftop terrace, a fitness center and an urban farm. Douglas Elliman handles the leasing and management of the property, according to CoStar and information from the firm’s website.
The developers indicated that The Essex is currently fully leased, with monthly rents ranging from around $3,500 for studios to $7,600 for three-bedroom apartments.
As for the broader Essex Crossing mega project, seven of its nine sites have topped out, and the developers are anticipating that it will be more than 90 percent complete by 2021, according to information from the borrowers.
Representatives for J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
