JP Morgan, Lionheart Lend $229M on Tribeca Clock Tower Building
By Cathy Cunningham January 11, 2022 1:52 pm
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The Peebles Corporation and El Ad Group have landed a $229.4 million refinance for 108 Leonard Street, the developers’ luxury condominium building in Tribeca, Commercial Observer has learned.
J.P. Morgan provided a $184 million senior loan in the deal, while Lionheart Strategic Management was in the $45 million mezzanine spot, sources said.
Walker & Dunlop’s Keith Kurland, Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Ari Hirt and Michael Ianno negotiated the debt, while J.P. Morgan’s Aaron Casden led the deal on behalf of the bank, sources said.
The asset, also known as Tribeca’s historic Clock Tower Building, features 167 residential units, 30,000 square feet of street-level retail and 20,000 square feet of wellness-driven amenities.
In 2019, Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies provided a $450 million condo inventory loan for the asset, as reported by The Real Deal. The W&D team also arranged that financing.
Designed by architects Stephen D. Hatch and McKim, Mead, and White, the Beaux-Arts-style building — which has an alternate address of 346 Broadway — was erected in 1894 and previously served as the headquarters of New York Life Insurance, then New York Criminal Court.
Don Peebles’ Peebles Corporation acquired the asset — the single largest building ever sold by the City of New York at the time — for $160 million in December 2013, beginning the condo conversion project with partner El Ad in 2016 and restoring the National Register of Historic Places-listed building to its former glory.
Sales at the project launched in early 2019 and have been off to the races, with some high-profile buyers garnering headlines since.
According to the New York Post, those buyers include Zoe Jackson, producer of “Project Runway” and “Top Chef”, who paid $6.4 million for a unit at the building; Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, who grabbed a two-bedroom apartment for $3.5 million; and billionaire Gildo Pallanca Pastor, who took the cherry on the cake and snapped up the 2,618-square-foot penthouse for $8.7 million in December 2021.
Officials at Peebles Corporation and Lionheart didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. J.P. Morgan officials weren’t immediately available. W&D officials declined to comment. El Ad officials couldn’t be reached.
