Wells Fargo Loans $224M In Bridge Financing for Queens Multifamily Tower

A joint venture involving the Carlyle Group, Fetner Properties and Lions Group has secured $224.3 million in bridge financing for the Italic, 49-story multifamily tower that opened last year in Long Island City, Queens, Commercial Observer can first report. 

Wells Fargo provided the financing, while the JLL Capital Markets team of Christopher Peck, Nicco Lupo, Michael Shmuely and Alex Staikos arranged the transaction. 

Albert Shirian, president and co-founder of Lions Group, said in a statement that the bridge debt will allow sponsorship the “flexibility to execute our business plan” as the asset finishes lease-up and enters stabilization, while Hal Fetner, president and CEO of Fetner Properties, described the Italic as “our ‘first-in-class’ Long Island City property.”

JLL’s Peck called the Italic “one of the premier new residential developments in Long Island City,” due to its enormous size of 290,000 rentable square feet and its prime location near local business districts and transportation.

“This financing reflects lender confidence in the sponsorship, the quality of the asset and the long-term fundamentals of the Long Island City rental market,” Peck added. 

Located at 26–32 Jackson Avenue — adjacent to the urban intersection of Queens Plaza and steps from the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge linking Manhattan and Queens — the Italic is a residential tower that holds 254 market-rate residences and 109 affordable units. The building features 10,300 square feet of ground-floor retail and includes a fitness center, an indoor basketball court, a golf simulator, coworking spaces and a rooftop terrace. 

The Italic opened last year beside its sister tower the Bold — a 28-story, 164-unit multifamily property that came to the market in 2023 — and was financed by a 35-year 421a affordable housing tax abatement.

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.