UBS Refis Chelsea Office Building With $161M Loan

A joint venture between Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates has sealed a $161 million loan to refinance an office and retail asset in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

UBS provided the interest-only loan for the sponsorship’s 194,000-square-foot office building at 61 Ninth Avenue, sources told Commercial Observer. The property has 143,000 square feet of office space that software company Yext subleases from insurance company Aetna and a 20,000-square-foot Starbucks Reserve Roastery tasting room. 

Known as the Yext Building, the property sits at the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 15th Street, across the street from Chelsea Market and a block north of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.

Vornado announced Tuesday its 45.1 percent-owned JV completed the refi for 61 Ninth Avenue with the loan’s maturity date set for March 2029. The deal carries an interest rate of the Secured Oversight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 3 percent for the first year, SOFR plus 3.35 percent for the second year, and SOFR plus 3.85 percent for the remaining term.

The transaction replaces a previous $155 million loan with an interest rate of SOFR plus 2.45 percent that was scheduled to mature in November 2026.

Walker & Dunlop arranged the transaction with a capital markets institutional advisory team of Dustin Stolly, Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Sean Reimer, Michael Ianno, Christopher de Raet and Jason Schwartzberg. 

UBS and Aurora Capital Associate did not immediately return requests for comment.

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.