Maxim Capital Lends $27M for Construction of Upper East Side Condos
By Andrew Coen May 27, 2025 11:15 am
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Rybak Development has landed $26.5 million of construction financing to build a condominium building on the site of what once was an Upper East Side hotel, Commercial Observer has learned.
Maxim Capital Group supplied the loan for the developer’s 11-story residential building at 500 East 81st Street in the Yorkville neighborhood, according to Meridian Capital Group, which arranged the financing. The deal was structured at a 65 percent loan-to-cost ratio, according to Meridian, which negotiated the transaction with a team led by Scott Miller, Eli Finkel and Rael Gervis.
Jason Bordenick, a partner at Maxim, noted that the deal closed against a backdrop of market volatility after President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
“We closed the loan on the same terms we offered pre-Liberation Day due to our confidence in our underwriting, Rybak’s ability to perform, and the strength of the Upper East Side,” Bordenick said in a statement.
Ryback bought 500 to 502 East 81st Street — formerly home to the Gracie Inn Hotel, a laundromat and a diner — for $10.4 million in 2023 and started demolishing the properties last year to make way for the development, according to Meridian and New York YIMBY.
The Zproekt Architecture-designed building at the corner of York Avenue and East 82st Street will feature 100 condos along with amenities that include a fitness center, a sauna and a spa lounge. It is slated for completion in mid-2026, according to Meridian.
Miller said in a statement that the loan “underscores the continued appetite for well-conceived projects in prime Manhattan locations, even in a challenging market.”
Rybak Development did not immediately return a request for comment.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.
