John Catsimatidis Grabs $57M Loan for Chelsea Mixed-Use Project
By Isabelle Durso July 26, 2024 1:07 pm
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John Catsimatidis, the head of real estate and grocery company Red Apple Group, has scored a $57 million loan for the construction of a mixed-use development in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
J.P. Morgan provided the loan for the 12-story building at 280 Eighth Avenue, where Catsimatidis plans to build a 100,000-square-foot project with 104 residential units, The Real Deal reported. SLCE Architects will design the project.
Spokespeople for Red Apple and SLCE did not immediately respond to requests for comment. J.P. Morgan declined to comment.
The property was originally a Chase Bank when Catsimatidis bought it 40 years ago, and it “will now be converted into new homes for New Yorkers,” the developer told TRD.
Catsimatidis’s plans for construction on the building, which sits on the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 24th Street, include a fitness center, a media room and a rooftop garden. Leasing for residents is expected to begin at the end of 2025.
As one of the biggest grocers in New York City’s history, Catsimatidis has over 30 Gristedes locations and 11 D’Agostinos in the metro area, Progressive Grocer reported.
But the grocer has also tried his hand at development. In 2017, Red Apple completed a 32-story tower at 86 Fleet Place in Downtown Brooklyn, part of Catsimatidis’s four-building development along Myrtle Avenue.
Catsimatidis also joined the development boom in Brooklyn’s Coney Island and started leasing his pair of 21-story, luxury residential buildings, Ocean Drive, in 2020, with rents climbing over $4,000 per month for some two-bedroom units.
“If you can’t afford it, work harder and move into the next building we build,” Catsimatidis previously told Commercial Observer. “We’re looking for people that know what it’s like to live on the beach and don’t mind spending the extra few dollars.”
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
