Northwind Provides $70M Condo Inventory Loan on Philly Resi Tower
By Andrew Coen and Brian Pascus September 14, 2023 9:00 am
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Southern Land Company has nabbed $70 million of condominium inventory financing for a new 48-story residential tower in Philadelphia, Commercial Observer has learned.
Northwind Group supplied the loan, which was collateralized by unsold for-sale residential condo units in The Laurel Rittenhouse Square on 1911 Walnut Street in Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood. The Laurel’s 65 condo units are on the top floors of the recently completed building, which also includes a 184-unit luxury multifamily community in the lower floors.
Ran Eliasaf, founder and managing partner of Northwind Group, said the deal, which replaced a previous construction loan, was designed to deploy fresh financing that enables sponsorship to complete the condo sales process without an impending maturity. He said the building, which is Philadelphia’s tallest residential tower, has seen 34 of the 65 condo units sold thus far. Collateral for the loan includes the 31 unsold condos plus 81 parking spaces.
Newmark (NMRK) arranged the transaction with a team led by Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, Chris Kramer, Ben Kroll, Michael Dorfman and Marshall Dickson.
Nashville-based Southern Land Company has closed more than $154 million in condo sales for the 34 sold units at The Laurel Rittenhouse Square, which opened to homeowners in January 2023. The building’s apartments, under the name 1909 Rittenhouse, debuted in November 2022 and are currently 90 percent leased.
Tim Downey, founder and CEO of Southern Land Company, credited Northwind for its “expertise and diligence” during the entire refinancing process.
Northwind also closed a $35 million first-mortgage loan to New Jersey developer Yisroel Berger to renovate his Carmel Towers apartment building in Newark. The loan will fund upgrades to the 25-story, 216-unit property that is geared toward workforce housing, and will stabilize the property through the lease-up process.
“Northwind was able to provide a flexible loan that provided us the required capital to finish our project,” Berger said in a statement.
Eliasaf said the project will involve a “full gut rehab” by redoing the building’s interior. He said it will be important given the affordability component, as there has been a lack of supply of multifamily developments focused on middle-income residents.
Meridian Capital Group’s Akiva Drew arranged the Newark transaction.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com. Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com
