Paramount Group Refinances Midtown Tower For $900M: The N.Y. Deal Sheet
Paramount Group has scored a $900M mortgage to refinance 1301 Sixth Ave., fresh off signing two law firms at the office tower.
Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo provided the debt, which replaced a $710M loan from Morgan Stanley, PincusCo reported.
The refinancing follows Piper Sandler signing a 140K SF lease in the 1.7M SF, 45-story office tower, the New York Post reported. Law firm Adler & Stachenfeld also signed for 40K SF in the building. The new leases brought the building to 97% leased, according to a release.
JLL’s Frank Doyle and Andrew Coe repped the landlord in both deals, for which starting rents were above $90 per SF. CBRE’s Andrew Sussman repped Piper Sandler, Commercial Observer reported.
The news follows a rocky few years for Paramount Group, which owns 13M SF of mostly office space across 17 assets.
It closed out 2024 with a $38.6M net loss after losing major tenants including JPMorgan Chase in San Francisco and SVB Securities at 1301 Sixth Ave., CO reported at the time.
In March, the firm revealed it had made $4M of previously undisclosed payments to CEO Albert Behler and his wife for personal expenses and business interests over three years, Crain's New York Business first reported. It disclosed last week that it is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for its disclosures for executive compensation and conflicts of interest, among other items.
The company has been exploring strategic alternatives, including selling itself, since May, The Wall Street Journal reported.
TOP FINANCING DEALS
The owners of Hôtel Barrière Fouquet, a five-star Tribeca hotel at 456 Greenwich St. that was the French brand’s first U.S. location, scored a $145M refinancing loan from affiliates of Goldman Sachs. The loan replaces construction and mezzanine financing provided by South Korea-based Hana Financial Investment for the 97-key hotel’s development. Rosenberg & Estis’ Michael Lefkowitz, Sean Garahan, Jenna Corcoran and Olivia Morri represented the borrower, CBCS Washington Street LP. Attorneys from Haynes and Boone LLP represented the lender.
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Global Holdings Management Group netted a $249.1M refi for Anagram NoMad, its 392-unit high-rise multifamily property at 10 E. 29th St. The five-year, interest-only, fixed-rate Freddie Mac loan was originated by Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital. Global Holdings acquired the 50-story tower in 2020. The JLL Capital Markets debt advisory team representing the borrower was led by Christopher Peck, Peter Rotchford, Rob Hinckley, Nicco Lupo and Christopher Pratt.
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Metro Loft Management notched a new five-year, $280M mortgage at a fixed 6.4% rate for 180 Water St., Crain’s reported. Metro Loft converted the former office building to apartments eight years ago, but its loan last year was sent to special servicing. It received a $40M investment from 60 Guilders and Sentry Realty last week before scoring the mortgage from Deutsche Bank.
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Affinius Capital has provided Rabsky Group with a $228M refinancing loan for three properties spanning more than 1,000 residential units, PincusCo reported. The properties include 323 Bond St. and 395 Carroll St. in Gowanus. The loan retires a sum of the same value from G4 Capital.
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BGO refinanced its 394-unit residential building at 420 E. 54th St. in Sutton Place for $241M, PincusCo reported. BGO and Slate Property Group brought the property together in 2016 for $390M and refinanced it in 2019. The new funding comes from Capital One and replaces a $285M loan from Mack Real Estate Group.
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BridgeCity Capital provided a $45M bridge loan to Century Development Group for the construction of a condo building at 45-28 21st St. and 46-21 21st St. in Long Island City, Commercial Observer reported. Century Development spent $14.2M acquiring the properties in 2022 and is underway with a 71K SF condo project that is expected to complete in Q3 next year. Arrow Real Estate Advisors’ Morris Betesh, Alex Bailkin and Matt O’Hanlon arranged the financing.
TOP SALES
Capstone Equities and Republic Investment Co. teamed up to buy a Tribeca hotel at a 45% discount to the last time it traded, Crain’s New York Business reported. The companies purchased the Smyth Tribeca hotel at 85 W. Broadway for $40M from Pennsylvania-based Korman Communities, which paid $72.2M for the property in 2017. Developer Vanbarton Group also previously bought a stake in the property from the Korman Group. PincusCo reports that Capstone and Republic Investment paid $39.8M to Vanbarton Group for its stake in the deal.
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Capstone also gained control of 141 Willoughby St., a 344K SF Downtown Brooklyn office building and an adjacent park space, for $86M. Capstone and BH3 Management bought the building’s debt, a $181M senior construction loan from Pimco and an $83M mezzanine loan, for $107M in February before scheduling a UCC foreclosure auction in June. It won the property with a credit bid and took it over from developer Savanna. Capstone is planning a partial residential conversion of the vacant tower.
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Turnbridge Equities spent $20M acquiring three industrial parcels in College Point from Ferdinand Provenzano, PincusCo reported. The sales were split into separate transactions of $13.3M and $6.7M. The properties are 20-35 130th St. and 20-25 130th St. East West Bank provided Turnbridge with a $13.1M loan for the acquisition.
TOP LEASES
Perceptive Advisors, the life sciences-focused venture capital firm founded by Joseph Edelman, has expanded to occupy 25K SF at Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ 51 Astor Place. The firm has been a tenant in the 12-story, 400K SF mixed-use building since 2013, when it moved into an 18K SF spread. JLL’s Paul Glickman, Mitchell Konsker, Benjamin Bass and Cynthia Wasserberger repped the landlord. Newmark’s Josh Friedman and Michael Horn repped the tenant.
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WeWork is opening up a new coworking space spanning 55K SF at 245 Fifth Ave., The Moinian Group’s 24-story Midtown South office tower. The deal is WeWork’s second this summer, following a 60K SF lease at 250 Broadway last month. The Fifth Avenue location will span four floors and is expected to open in summer 2026. The lease represents a relocation and contraction — it's closing its location at 27 E. 28th St., where it once occupied more than 100K SF.
Newmark brokers repped both sides of the deal, with Scott Klau, Erik Harris, Zach Weil, Cole Gendel and Ben Klau working on behalf of the landlord, and Aaron Ellison and Travis Milone representing WeWork. Moinian also signed another 40K SF of leases between Synthesia, EON, Greenmantle, Crosby Legal, The Spectator and Schnackel Engineers, bringing the building to 90% leased.
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Strategic communications and investor relations firm Collected Strategies signed a 10K SF office lease at Moinian’s 60 Madison Ave. Collected Strategies was previously located at 121 E. 24th St. and was represented by Michael Joseph and Taylor Bell of Colliers. The Moinian Group was represented by Gregg Rothkin, Jared London, Hayden Pascal, Taylor Walker and Keegan Schenk of CBRE.
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Urban Edge Properties signed leases with three tenants totaling 54K SF at Kingswood Crossing. AdvantageCare Physicians NY took 22K SF across the third and fourth floors, VNS Health took 22K SF across the entire fifth floor, and Maimonides Medical Center took 10K SF on the third floor. The deals mean the 113K SF mixed-use development at 1630 E. 15th St. in Brooklyn is now fully leased. Newmark’s Justin DiMare repped the owner.
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Educational institution Swedish Institute has signed an 18K SF, long-term lease agreement at 151 W. 26th St. on top of its existing 40K SF in the Rosen family-owned building, bringing its total footprint to 58K SF. The school, which offers degree and certificate programs in massage therapy, nursing, surgical technology and related fields, was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Weiss. Ownership was represented in-house by Max Koeppel. Other tenants in the 197K SF, 12-story building include Goods & Services LLC and CTA Architects.
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Fresh pet food company The Farmer’s Dog is moving into 58K SF at 568 Broadway, a 12-story building owned by a partnership between Aurora Capital Associates, A&H Acquisitions and Allied Partners, Commercial Observer reported. Asking rent at the 380K SF SoHo building, where ZocDoc and Milk Makeup are also office tenants, was $120 per SF. The Farmer’s Dog, which signed a sublease at 214 Sullivan St. in 2019, was represented by Adam Henick and Oded Nachmani of Current Real Estate Advisors for its new space. Ownership was represented by Brett Harvey of Newmark.
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The New York State Office of General Services signed a 10-year, 44K SF lease at Brookfield’s 1 New York Plaza, Commercial Observer reported. The OGS signed on behalf of the New York State Office of Information Technology Services, which will occupy the 31st floor for the 10-year lease. Brookfield had in-house representation, while CBRE’s Steve Siegel, Rocco Laginestra and Liz Lash repped the state.
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Seaport Entertainment Group has renewed its 37K SF headquarters at Jack Resnick & Sons’ One Seaport Plaza, Commercial Observer reported. The tenant has been in the 35-story office tower since 2014 and was repped by CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Gerry Miovski and Brett Shannon. The landlord was represented in-house by Brett Greenberg and Adam Rappaport, as well as by Cushman & Wakefield’s John Cefaly, Stephen Bellwood, Ethan Silverstein and Rachel Rosenfeld.
