Moinian Pays $10M In Equity For Fifth Avenue Refi: The N.Y. Deal Sheet
The Moinian Group landed new debt to pay off a distressed loan on two mixed-use Fifth Avenue buildings — but not without having to throw in a significant chunk of its own cash.
Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale Financial Corp. and German American Capital Corp. provided a $310M CMBS loan to Moinian to refinance 535 and 545 Fifth Ave., according to city property records. The deal closed this week.
To pay off the defaulted mortgage on the 36-story 535 Fifth Ave. and the 14-story 545 Fifth Ave., the landlord put in $10M of equity to close the deal, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.
The loan matures in January 2031 and is amortizing, rather than being structured as an interest-only deal, which is more commonly seen for CMBS. The $320M total will go toward paying off the $314.8M balance of the mortgage on the buildings, which were erected a century ago, plus closing costs.
Moinian defaulted on its previous $310M CMBS loan when it matured in March, resulting in the properties being sent to special servicing, Crain’s New York Business reported at the time. The servicer had filed a foreclosure action, but that was dismissed when Moinian landed the refinancing.
The properties, which sit close to Grand Central between East 44th and 45th streets and span 507K SF, are 88% leased. Moinian has spent $33.4M upgrading the buildings since 2019, including $11M on the flagship retail space.
A possible warning sign for when the new debt needs refinancing is that two retail tenants, the NBA Store and Best Buy, account for roughly 40% of the properties’ retail base rent. Best Buy’s lease expires at the end of the first quarter of 2031, while the NBA Store has a termination option it could exercise as early as December 2029.
CBRE's Drew Anderman, Eddie Haber, AJ Bruno and Jared Fried, along with Iron Hound Management's Rob Verrone, advised Moinian in the refinancing, Crain's reported.
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