60 Guilders Buys Downtown Brooklyn Office in $128M Deal

60 Guilders has acquired 12 MetroTech Center, an office condominium in Downtown Brooklyn for $128 million. The 186,000-square-foot property is located on the first five floors of the 12 MetroTech Center.

Cushman & Wakefield arranged $106 million in acquisition financing through Starwood Property Trust. Gideon Gil, Lauren Kaufman, Steve Kohn and Alex Hernandez secured the funding—a five-year, interest-only loan—on behalf of the borrower. The deal is one of the largest financing transactions in Brooklyn since the beginning of the pandemic, and according to Gil, it is a prime example of the types of office deals lenders are willing to do amid the uncertainty of the pandemic.

The property has creditworthy tenants and long-term leases and strong sponsorship, making it attractive to lenders.

While the office market in the Greater New York City Metro area was devastated during the pandemic, it has already started to rebound in 2021. A report from Avison Young shows investment sales volume totaled 51 transactions with a total value of $1.87 billion in the second quarter. This represents a 59% increase in sales volume and a 49% increase in dollar volume compared to the four quarters during the pandemic.

While multifamily led the deal volume in the second quarter, office led in terms of dollar volume. There were five total transactions valued at $854 million. The dollar volume was up 61%, while deal volume increased 33% from the trailing four-quarter average. The price per square foot increased 10% to $1,039.

A handful of recent investment announcements are helping to drive the activity. New York office developer KPG Funds, for example, announced plans to acquire more than $1 billion in New York City office and retail assets. KPG, which specializes in value-add acquisitions and development, believes the New York market will recover.