Parkview Financial Lends $70M on Greenwich Village Office Development
By Andrew Coen June 9, 2022 3:45 pm
reprints
Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) has nabbed a $70 million debt package for the refinance and construction of a long-planned mixed-use office asset in Manhattan, Commercial Observer can first report.
Parkview Financial provided the loan on REEC’s nine-story, 61,513-square-foot development at 1 & 3 St. Marks Place in Greenwich Village. The loan refinances previous debt on the property and construction financing.
Located on the northeast corner of St. Marks Place and Thirdrd Avenue, the property will include 53,737 square feet of office space, 4,881 square feet of ground-floor retail and 2,895 square feet of below-grade retail.
REEC acquired the 99-year leasehold interest on the land in 2017 and demolished the aging commercial space on the site. However, construction delays caused by the pandemic and other factors required the project to be restructured and the original loans underlying the leasehold to be recapitalized. Parkview Financial’s loan refinances the existing land loan and provides construction financing. Development has now begun with completion anticipated for June 2024.
“There is such a long history and so many ups and downs with this project, but we were looking at this from the perspective of the asset, the location, the design and the sponsorship behind it,” Paul Rahimian, CEO and founder of Parkview Financial told CO. “One of the things about the design that was attractive to us other than the phenomenal location was that they’re building what we consider very easy to lease small footprints for each floor that are about 6,500 square feet each, and this gives us the assurance that this product will be leased up fairly quickly.”
Rahimian noted that while the pandemic adversely affected occupancy rates throughout Manhattan, the market’s fundamentals have been improving as people gradually return to work and companies look to once again lease space in Class A buildings. Greenwich Village also boasts growing technology, advertising, media and information sectors, which Rahimian expects will show interest in this new office property.
“We are very excited to complete what is going to be one of the premiere boutique Class A office buildings in all of Manhattan, featuring 14-foot to 16-foot ceiling heights, vast outdoor space with wraparound terraces, and best-in-class amenities,” said Ted Robottom, director of acquisitions & development at REEC.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.
