Record Office-to-Multifamily Project Lands $536M in NYC
Newmark arranged financing for the largest adaptive reuse of its kind.
25 Water Street in Manhattan will undergo the largest adaptive reuse of its kind. Rendering courtesy of CetraRuddy
GFP Real Estate, Metro Loft Management and Rockwood Capital have gained $535.8 million in acquisition and redevelopment financing for the largest ever office-to-residential conversion in the U.S. The 22-story, 1.1 million-square-foot 25 Water Street in New York City’s financial district will be the site of the record-setting project. The financing was arranged by Newmark.
The building’s 12-foot slab-to-slab ceiling heights and 40,350-square-foot floor plates offer an attractive candidate for conversion. Its uninterrupted light and air on three sides of the building and views of New York Harbor are additional plusses. Once that conversion is complete, the tower will feature about 1,300 residential units. Floorplans will extend from studio units to four-bedroom apartment homes.
The developers intend to include a suite of amenities comparable to similar New York City properties, highlighted by a landscaped outdoor rooftop terrace. The building is encircled by acres of plazas and public parks.
Late-‘60s vintage
Led by Jeff Gural, Newmark chairman emeritus, GFP will partner with Metro Loft Management to oversee the residential conversion of the 53-year-old office tower. GFP recently acquired and redeveloped 13 buildings representing $2.2 billion in investment and completed a $550 million renovation of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. For its part, Metro Loft Management has handled more than five million square feet of Lower Manhattan conversions in the past two decades.
In recent years, Lower Manhattan has morphed into a 24-7 enclave and is now New York City’s fastest-growing residential district. The 2020 U.S. Census determined that the residential population had grown by 33 percent since 2010 and had expanded fourfold since 2000.
The Newmark team was directed by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub, vice chairmen and co-heads of the company’s debt and structured finance team, along with Newmark Senior Managing Director Chris Kramer. MSD and Apollo furnished the loan. Earlier this month, Newmark arranged a $500 million programmatic joint venture focused on self-storage assets throughout the Northeast.
