David Werner, Metro Loft Secure $90M for Conversion at 675 Third Avenue

David Werner and Nathan Berman have secured another property for their major office-to-residential conversion project in Midtown East.

After going into contract in January to buy the 32-story office building at 675 Third Avenue from The Durst Organization for more than $100 million, David Werner Real Estate Investments and Metro Loft Management have secured a $90 million loan from Northwind Group to acquire and convert the property into approximately 430 residential rental units, according to Northwind. Bisnow first reported the news.

While the deal has not yet reached city records, Ran Eliasaf, founder of Northwind, told Commercial Observer the building between East 42nd and East 43rd streets is “exceptionally well suited for residential conversion due to its deal location in Midtown East.” The property sits roughly midway between Grand Central Terminal and the United Nations campus.

The deal at 675 Third is part of Werner and Berman’s conversion of the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street and the neighboring 219 East 42nd Street, which is also being funded by Northwind, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

The team plans to convert those two office properties into housing with roughly 1,600 combined rental units. The 430 units at 675 Third will be in addition to that number, bringing the project to a total number of more than 2,000 units, Northwind said.

The project is already the largest office-to-residential conversion in the works in the city, Berman previously told CO.

“It is amazing to see how, between the three loans we have made, a full city block on 42nd Street between Third and Second Avenues is being converted from office to residential rental units,” Eliasaf said. “Northwind Group is proud to be on the forefront of financing these market-leading, trend-setting projects.”

A spokesperson for Metro Loft did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a spokesperson for Werner could not be reached for comment.

The news comes amid an influx of new conversion projects announced in Midtown, including the Feil Organization’s plans to turn 140 West 57th Street into 47 residential units and Yellowstone Real Estate Investment’s proposal to convert 1730 Broadway into 422 apartments.

Update: This story has been updated to clarify the property is part of the Pfizer headquarters project.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.