Black Spruce, Orbach sign $525.1M refi with Arbor for 761-unit rental in Murray Hill

Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions through the entity American Copper Building LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Arbor Realty Trust through the entity Arbor Agency Lending, LLC valued at $525.1 million for the 761-unit residential elevator building (D8) The Copper at 616-626 First Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan.
The deal closed on July 31, 2025 and was recorded on August 15, 2025. The prior lender was Series 2022-ACB which held debt that had an original loan amount of $611.5 million.

The property has 922,828 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $569 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 owner bought the property on March 1, 2022, for $837 million. The signatory for Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions was Matt Keller . The signatory for Arbor Realty Trust was Kenneth Dowling .

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Joshua Gotlib, head officer and Anthony Calicchio, agent. The business entities are Go Residential Management Llc and American Copper Building Llc. The 922,828-square-foot property generated revenue of $58 million or $63 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 761 residential units in Murray Hill has 922,828 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 197 feet and is 192 feet deep with a total lot size of 45,190 square feet. The zoning is C4-6 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property has a 421A exemption that started in 2019 and expires in 2039. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $300.7 million. The most recent loan totaled $611.5 million and was provided by JPMorgan Chase on March 1, 2022. The property has 761 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $255,273 money judgment concerning a commission filed on January 10, 2025, by Roxy Wu and Airea LLC against Black Spruce Management. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received one housing violation and $7,900 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on November 25, 2016. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the three commercial properties representing 923,028 square feet of the 1,017,764 square feet. The two identified owners are Black Spruce Management and City Of New York.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 91 percent of the 1 million square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 9 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Black Spruce Management owned at least 145 commercial properties with 4,957 residential units in New York City with 5,197,406 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.2 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $562 million in debt, with top three lenders as Signature Bank, Goldman Sachs, and New York Community Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 76 percent of the 5,197,406 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with walkup properties next occupying 23 percent of the space. The bulk, or 87 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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