Fortress, Slate obtain $43.9M refi with New York Life for 90-unit rental in Lenox Hill

Fortress Investment Group and Slate Property Group through the entity Crefma1 231 East 76th Owner LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender New York Life Insurance Company valued at $43.9 million for the 90-unit residential elevator building (D3) at 231 East 76th Street in Lenox Hill, Manhattan.
The deal closed on June 6, 2025 and was recorded on June 18, 2025. The prior lender was Prime Finance which held debt that had an original loan amount of $39.7 million.The property has 82,065 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $534 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 owners bought the property on May 26, 2022, for $49.1 million. The signatory for Fortress Investment Group was David Hammerman . The signatory for New York Life Insurance Company was Alana Moran .

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Daniel Hochberg of Slate Property Group, head officer and Edwin Vargas, site manager. The business entity is Crefma1 231 East 76th Owner Llc.

The property

The residential elevator building with 90 residential units in Lenox Hill has 82,065 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 130 feet and is 102 feet deep with a total lot size of 13,281 square feet. The zoning is R8B which allows for up to 4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $18.2 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Prime Finance on November 14, 2024. The property has 22 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2023.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $2,150 in OATH penalties 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.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 14 of the 23 commercial properties representing 244,759 square feet of the 356,167 square feet. The largest owner is Fortress Investment Group, followed by Birch Wathen Lenox School and then Northwell Health.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 207,131 square feet. It is a two-unit, 207,131 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Vic Clements with plans filed October 3, 2022 and permitted December 11, 2023.

The majority, or 55 percent of the 356,167 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Fortress Investment Group owned at least three commercial properties with 594 residential units in New York City with 589,218 square feet and a city-determined market value of $132.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $377.9 million in debt, with top three lenders as Northwind Group, MetLife, and Prime Finance respectively. Within the portfolio, all identified are elevator properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

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