Moinian Said to Restructure Debt on 3 NYC Properties
Bloomberg reports: New York developer Joseph Moinian restructured about $550 million of debt for three lower Manhattan buildings in a sign of renewed willingness among lenders to refinance distressed properties.
The Moinian Group renegotiated $340 million of mortgage and mezzanine loans for 180 Maiden Lane, a 1.1 million-square-foot skyscraper, according to two people familiar with the transaction. It also obtained a new $130 million first mortgage on the Ocean Residences apartments and a loan extension on 17 Battery Place, a 22-story office property, said the people, who asked not to be named because of confidentiality agreements.
“There’s a combination of extensions of existing mortgages and there are new mortgages,” Moinian said today in a telephone interview. “The exact amounts of the mortgages before are the same as they are now.”
More than $180 billion of U.S. commercial real estate is in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc., a research firm based in New York. Tight credit and a worldwide recession spurred a plunge in real estate values, making it difficult for landlords to refinance mature loans and pushing them into foreclosure.
New York developer Harry Macklowe and private-equity firm CIM Group, based in Los Angeles, plan to pay off creditors on a Park Avenue development site, a person familiar with that situation said yesterday. SL Green Realty Corp., based in New York, said yesterday that it got a $475 million mortgage on 1515 Broadway, replacing a $625 million loan.
Garment District Start
Moinian, 55, built a 20 million-square-foot empire of mostly New York commercial properties after a stint in the city’s garment industry. His holdings include a stake in Chicago’s Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the U.S.
He has acquired more than $4.4 billion of properties since 2001, mostly by borrowing from lenders who then bundled the loans with other debt sold as commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to Real Capital.
“He’s a self-made man, a talented operator who made money for his investors when times were good,” said Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital. “His pain is like many others who are facing this huge restructuring issue.”
The biggest tenant at 180 Maiden Lane is New York-based insurer American International Group Inc. Lead lender Wachovia Corp. transferred the building’s senior debt to a special servicer last June, citing “potential for refinance risk,” according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Posted by: Nina Turner