Grubb Properties Seals $377M in Financing for Financial District Resi Tower 

Fresh off the holiday weekend, a high-rise residential tower in Manhattan’s Financial District is officially inching closer to completion with some equally fresh funding. 

Grubb Properties just closed $377 million in construction financing for its 64-story property at 8 Carlisle Street, Commercial Observer has learned. In keeping with Grubb’s national multifamily brand, the property will be known as Link Apartments, and follows the development of Link Apartments QPN in Queens’ Long Island City, which completed construction last year.

Maxim Capital Group provided the $300 million senior construction loan in the deal, while GreenBarn Investment Group, Skylight Real Estate Partners, Axonic Capital and Meadow Partners co-originated a $77 million mezzanine construction loan. 

The financing will facilitate the completion and lease-up of the building, which has been under construction for more than a year and is expected to top out in the next few weeks. The project’s total capitalization is around $500 million, sources familiar with the project said. 

Maxim Capital is plenty familiar with 8 Carlisle Street as its lending history with the asset dates back to May 2024. It provided a $67.5 million loan on the site at the time, gradually upsizing that loan to $193 million recently. Now, the firm is back with one of its largest construction loans. 

“It’s a huge loan for us, and one we’re very proud of,” Josh Greene, a managing director and partner at the firm, said, adding that originating larger loans such as 8 Carisle’s is part of a natural evolution for the firm. “We’ve grown substantially, and that growth has allowed us to grow into transactions like this.” 

The 8 Carlisle Street lending opportunity also ticks several boxes for Maxim. Roughly 70 percent of every dollar deployed by Maxim goes to repeat sponsors — like Grubb Properties — today, Greene said, and the property is also in a primary market with a residential component. 

“Grubb Properties is a repeat sponsor of ours, and we did a very similar loan for them in Long Island City where we provided an early-stage construction loan, upsized it, then made way for the construction loan,” Greene said. “The LIC project went very well for Grubb and we wanted to do more with them. 8 Carlisle is an exciting opportunity for us.” 

As for the mezzanine consortium, there’s plenty of familiarity there, too. 

GreenBarn, Skylight and Axonic had an existing relationship with Grubb Properties, having provided a $55 million fund-level net asset value (NAV) loan to the company in November 2024, sources said. The NAV loan was collateralized by a portfolio of 27 of Grubb’s assets, including 8 Carlisle. While it was recently repaid via a separate transaction, the NAV loan allowed the firms to have early visibility into 8 Carlisle before negotiating the mezzanine loan in recent months and executing it on July 2. 

Arrow Real Estate Advisors’ Morris Betesh negotiated the financing. He also arranged Maxim’s initial loan on 8 Carlisle as well as the construction financing for Link Apartments QPN. 

“We’ve been working on putting this transaction together for the past two years,” Betesh said. “There was a lot of complexity in coordinating capital sources and getting it across the finish line but it’s a great building with a tenacious, experienced developer who’s been able to see its development through despite market headwinds. There’s a lot of residential supply coming to FiDi, but a lot of it is conversion product and this is really differentiated, which is very nice to see.” 

And, you’ll see it from a distance. At 789 feet tall, 8 Carlisle Street is one of the tallest buildings in the Financial District and it also has a 70/30 421-a structure, making it one of the very last 421-a properties to be delivered. 

The Promote first reported the deal .

When completed, 8 Carlisle Street will comprise seven to 10 residential units per level, according to New York YIMBY. The new building is being designed to meet the needs of the rent-dependent millennial and Gen Z workforce in Manhattan, with ameinities including a swimming pool, a fitness center with an outdoor terrace, entertainment rooms and a lounge on the 63rd floor. It’ll also include 7,000 square feet of retail space. 

A parking garage once occupied the site, according to New York YIMBY. It then sat vacant for 16 years until Grubb’s work on 8 Carlisle Street commenced. 

Grubb Properties, GreenBarn and Skylight declined to comment. Meadow Partners and Axonic couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. 

Cathy Cunningham can be reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com