Richard Bassuk, president of SBO, says the firm also completed a variety of financings on the project. First, Bassuk tells GlobeSt.com, SBO worked with Matthew Adell to find an equity partner for the acquisition. SBO then arranged the construction financing for Chelsea 27th Street Apartments LLC comprising affiliates of Matthew Adell and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. The financing was provided by low floater tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency under its 80/20 program, with credit enhancement for the HFA bonds provided under a newly formulated program that GMAC developed with Fannie Mae.

According to Bassuk, Adell and his father, Leonard, are responsible for creating the booming Chelsea residential area as they had fought for 15 years to change the zoning in the area. "It was a massive undertaking," he says. Adell adds that in acting as broker and financial advisor to the venture from inception, Bassuk successfully "arranged the joint venture, construction financing and forward commitment."

Financing 80/20 projects is highly labor intensive and takes specialized knowledge. To provide the necessary services, SBO has in-house specialists fully experienced with such projects. Bassuk indicated that he is actively working on other substantial 80/20 and Liberty Bond transactions, some of which are expected to close shortly.