Black Spruce, Orbach sign $290.6M refi with Apollo, RXR for 408-unit rental in Murray Hill

Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions through the entity 685 1st Ave LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Apollo Global Management through the entity Athene Annuity And Life Company and RXR Realty through the entity RXR 685 1st Ave Preferred Investor LLC valued at a combined $290.6 million for the 408-unit rental condo at 685 First Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan.
The deal closed on January 27, 2025 and was recorded on February 5, 2025. The prior lender was JPMorgan Chase which held debt that had an original loan amount of $290.6 million.
The building, divided into three commercial condominium units, has 449,958 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $645 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions was Joshua Gotlib. The signatory for Apollo Global Management and RXR Realty was Jeffrey Horowitz. The original JPMorgan Chase loan of $290.625 million was split into a senior loan of $240 million held by Apollo and a subordinate piece of $50.625 million financed by the RXR Realty affiliate.

The property

The rental condo with 408 residential units in Murray Hill has 449,958 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 416,337 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $154.6 million. The most recent loan totaled $290.6 million and was provided by JPMorgan Chase on September 23, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

The properties were involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $1.7 million money judgment concerning a partnership filed on September 6, 2024, by Isaac Kassirer and Emerald Equity Group against Joshua Gotlib and Meyer Orbach. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by 685 FIRST REALTY COMPANY, LLC to create 148 residential units and 2 commercial units in a building at 685 First Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan, called One United Nations Parkthat has a $535.9 million sellout, according to an February 15, 2017 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principals of the sponsor, 685 FIRST REALTY COMPANY, LLC, were Stefan Soloviev and Sheldon Solow.

The block

On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 730,339 square feet. It is a 556-unit, 730,339 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Solow Realty & Development and filed by Anthony Calicchio with plans filed August 25, 2015 and permitted February 17, 2016.

The majority, or 0 percent of the 0.0 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with development buildings next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Black Spruce Management owned at least 154 commercial properties with 5,022 residential units in New York City with 5,259,865 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $587.5 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Goldman Sachs, and New York Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 75 percent of the 5,259,865 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 24 percent of the space. The bulk, or 86 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 10 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions owned at least five commercial properties with 1,179 residential units in New York City with 1,679,949 square feet and a city-determined market value of $435.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 99 percent of the 1,679,949 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with industrial properties next occupying 1 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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