Prime Finance Lends $87M for Harlem Resi Tower

A joint venture between LMXD and Ray, a real estate venture formed by philanthropist Dasha Zhukova, has secured $85.6 million of bridge debt for a newly built mixed-use development in Harlem, Commercial Observer can first report.

Prime Finance supplied the bridge loan for the sponsorship’s Ray Harlem, a 222-unit multifamily building that includes 10,818 square feet of retail space at 2035 Fifth Avenue. The deal retires a prior $80 million construction deal for the 21-story project, provided by PCCP in 2022, and also fund reserves.

Walker & Dunlop arranged the transaction with a team consisting of Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz, Dustin Stolly, Sean Reimer, Ari Hirt and Nicholas Gilhooley. 

The Ray Harlem project on Fifth Avenue between 125th and 126th streets comprises 134,454 residential square feet with 25 percent of the apartments designated as affordable housing under the former 421a program and New York City’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. Community amenities include a rooftop terrace lounge, a communal kitchen, a fitness center, a yoga studio, coworking space and a library. 

The retail space is nearly half leased to Club Pilates and Industrial Bank. The property is anchored by the National Black Theater’s new 28,000-square-foot cultural venue that is not part of the loan’s collateral.

Officials at LMXD, the mixed-income development arm of Prime Finance, L+M Development Partners and Ray did not immediately return requests for comment.

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