Metropolitan Commercial Bank Lends $28M on Harlem Apartments
By Andrew Coen July 29, 2024 2:09 pm
reprints
Elmo Realty has nabbed $27.5 million of construction financing to build a multifamily building at a former historic church site that will soon be operated by a homeless shelter in West Harlem, Commercial Observer has learned.
Metropolitan Commercial Bank supplied the loan on Elmo’s project at 1763-1771 Amsterdam Avenue in West Harlem that will feature 126 studio apartments. The eight-story property will be leased to a homeless shelter for nine years upon completion, according to Saba Vahdat, vice president at Elmo who is lead developer for the project.
“We are very bullish on the entire Harlem area,” Vahdat told CO. “We are excited to get this project up and running.”
Located between 147th and 148th streets, the property previously housed Childs Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ, where the funeral for civil rights leader Malcolm X was held following his 1965 assassination. The church was torn down in 2017 after years of disrepair. Vahdat said a groundbreaking for her new development is scheduled for later this week, and construction should take around 18 months to complete.
The 1763-1771 Amsterstam property is a mile north of another eight-story Harlem multifamily building Elmo is developing at 2535 Frederick Douglass Boulevard that will feature 53 units and 23,979 square feet of commercial space. Metropolitan Commercial Bank also provided financing for that project with a $26 million construction loan that closed in April 2023.
“We have the other loan with Saba where she is doing a tremendous job, and we wanted to grow that relationship,” said Vivek Baid, vice president of commercial real estate lending at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. “She is committed to developing nicer assets in low- to moderate-income areas.”
Andrew Coen can be reached at acorn@commercialobserver.com
