PGIM Refis Manhattan Office-to-Storage Conversion With $57M Loan

A joint venture between Mequity Companies and Flatiron Equities Real Estate has sealed a $57 million loan to refinance an office-to-storage conversion project in Midtown Manhattan, Commercial Observer has learned.

PGIM supplied the loan for the sponsorship’s transformation of 152 West 36th Street from a 51,853 square-foot Class C office building into a roughly 1,500-unit self-storage facility operated by Manhattan Mini Storage. The refi, which closed Friday afternoon, retires a past construction debt and funds the final development stages of the conversion project, which spans 75,000 rentable square feet and is slated for completion in early 2027.

Colliers negotiated the financing with a team led by Dylan Kane, Zach Redding and Jared King. 

Kane, managing director at Colliers, noted the project is poised for success thanks to a Midtown South rezoning that will boost demand for self-storage in the area because of residential housing that will be sprouting up. The development is slated to receive a temporary certificate occupancy in a few months, according to Kane. 

“That progress allowed us to increase loan proceeds, lower borrowing costs meaningfully and also provide some runway through the lease-up,” Kane said. 

Mequity and Flatiron acquired the eight-story office building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood for $23.8 million from Falcon Properties in September 2024, CO previously reported. The property, originally built as a warehouse, will add eight stories built atop the existing building as part of the conversion.

“We’re in a great position to benefit from the new residential demand that will be coming online in the next few years as a result of the Midtown South rezoning,” Mequity CEO Bill Marsh said in a statement.

PGIM and Flatiron Equities Real Estate did not immediately return requests for comment.

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