NEW YORK CITY—Gaia Real Estate has landed a nearly $123 million acquisition loan from TPG Real Estate Finance Trust to help fund the developer's purchase of a vacant multifamily property at 416 W. 52nd St., according to the Commercial Observer.
Meridian Capital Group arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan, which comes with two 12-month extension options, the mortgage brokerage firm reports. Meridian senior managing director Ronnie Levine and managing director Jeff Berkes negotiated the debt deal. TPG declined GlobeSt.com's request for comment.
Gaia confirms with GlobeSt.com that it acquired the property—which formerly was St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital—from the Chetrit Group earlier this month. Located in Hell's Kitchen between Ninth and 10th Avenues, the property changed hands for close to $157 million, the Observer reveals. Chetrit converted the more than 70-year-old hospital into 156 apartment units in 2014 but the 141,350 square feet of residential space remains unoccupied.
Gaia plans to further upgrade the building and convert the empty apartments to condos within the less than $1 million to $2.5 million range, The Wall Street Journal reports. Numerous amenities will be added to the full-service building's offerings, including a children's activity room, wine cellar, wet bar and more.
Meridian previously arranged acquisition and renovation financing for the property from Natixis Real Estate Capital on behalf of Chetrit.
“Having this unique perspective allowed us to quickly highlight the merits of the transaction to lenders and structure favorable terms based on the strength of Gaia's business plan,” Levine tells the Observer.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
