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Lendlease and Victor Group have closed on a $369M financing package for a 55-story condo tower at 281 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan.
The bulk of the financing comes in the form of a $269M loan issued by three Singapore banks: United Overseas Bank Limited, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited and DBS Bank, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
The remaining $100M in the package comes in the form of a preferred equity stake for May Bao Limited, a subsidiary of Shokai Group. The whole project is estimated to cost about $470M and will comprise 250k SF.
Very few nearby buildings south of the Empire State Building, four blocks to the north, rise to nearly the 700 feet this one will reach. Continuum’s 41 East 22nd St. climbs to 777 feet, but it is the only recently built Manhattan building in the area that is taller.
Rafael Viñoly, known as the designer of 432 Park Ave., is the architect. The project’s been in the works for about two years, with $174.1M going into assembling the land and air rights to make the project happen.
Lendlease has been on board with the development since April 2015, when it acquired an unspecified stake. The financing is notable as most condo developers have said it has been almost impossible to land a construction loan. But while U.S. banks are being gun-shy about regulations, foreign banks are clearly ready to fill the void.
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