Tishman Speyer Closing In on $3B CMBS Refi for The Spiral

Fresh off scoring a $3.5 billion refinance for Rockefeller Center in October, Tishman Speyer is on the verge of another big capital infusion in Hudson Yards.

Tishman is working toward closing a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan of up to $3 billion for a refi of its 66-story The Spiral office building with J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, Commercial Mortgage Alert reported on Friday. J.P. Morgan is acting as the lead lender on a fixed-rate, five-year loan term with hopes of closing the deal in January, according to CMA. 

The transaction  would help the developer pay off a $1.5 billion construction loan supplied by Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT) in 2018 as well as additional mezzanine debt on the 2.8 million-square-foot property.

The Spiral is 94 percent leased. A CMBS loan for the office tower is expected to generate strong investor interest on the heels of Tishman’s $3.5 billion deal for the 7.2 million square foot Rockefeller Center closing oversubscribed from its initial pricing levels with a fixed interest rate of 6.23 percent from its 6.5 percent starting point. The Spiral is the largest loan in BXMT’s portfolio with a $1.3 billion balance as of Sept. 30.

“Assets like The Spiral are very well positioned in today’s market, drawing strong tenant and capital markets demand,” a BXMT spokesperson said in a statement. “Liquidity is returning broadly across real estate sectors, including in office, which for BXMT has yielded $1.7 billion in office repayments so far this year.”

In a sign of promise for the office market, BXMT has received $2.2 billion of repayments for office loans since early 2023. The Spiral repayment will add to this momentum and enable BXMT to reinvest in more office loans in the near term with more favorable lending conditions, according to a market source.

The Spiral added private equity firm TPG as a tenant with a 301,276-square-foot lease in late October. The building at 66 Hudson Boulevard East is home to the global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer with AllianceBernstein, HSBC and Turner Construction also anchor tenants.

The market source told Commercial Observer that the upcoming CMBS loan for The Spiral, the successful Rockefeller Center transaction and Japanese developer Mori Building Company is evidence of “strong demand for high-quality office assets.”

Tishman Speyer and J.P. Morgan declined to comment. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com