InterVest signs $200M refi for UWS condo building with nearly $440M sellout

InterVest Capital Partners through the entity 720 Wea Ventures LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Deutsche Bank through the entity Deutsche Bank Ag, New York Branch valued at $200 million for the 132-unit condominium conversion building at 720 West End Avenue in Upper West Side, Manhattan.
The deal closed on December 18, 2024 and was recorded on January 3, 2025. The prior lender was Security Benefit Life Insurance through Cain International which held debt that had an original loan amount of $180.8 million. The original lender was Pacific Western Bank, which provided the loan in 2021 and then assigned the debt in 2023 to Security Benefit.

The property has 237,507 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $842 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 December 22, 2021, for $168 million. The signatory for InterVest Capital Partners was Michael Gontar. The signatory for Deutsche Bank was Christopher Harris and Mrinal Dansingani. InterVest Capital Partners was formerly known as Wafra Capital Partners and is an investment firm supported by Kuwait’s public pension fund.

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Shai Shamir, head officer and Doron Resheff, site manager. The business entity is The Salvation Army.

The property

The specialty building in Upper West Side has 237,507 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 175 feet and is 125 feet deep with a total lot size of 20,150 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R10A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $28.6 million.

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 four DOB violations, $23,125 in ECB penalties, and $23,175 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active major alteration construction project, 123580062, for a 117-unit, 219,768 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Michael Gontar and filed by Doron Resheff with plans filed July 6, 2018 and permitted November 30, 2023. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by 720 WEA VENTURES LLC to create 132 residential units in a building at 720 West End Avenue in Upper West Side, Manhattan, called 720 West End Avenue Condominium that has a $439.8 million sellout, according to an November 29, 2022 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principal of the sponsor, 720 WEA VENTURES LLC, was Michael Gontar.

The neighborhood

In Upper West Side, The majority, or 59 percent of the 52.9 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Upper West Side has 3.9 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $988.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Manhattan. For development, Upper West Side has 2.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 9th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other specialty buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 13 of the 21 commercial properties representing 187,442 square feet of the 496,030 square feet. The largest owner is Time Equities, followed by Hubb Nyc and then Schreiber Properties.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 356,881 square feet. The largest is a 130-unit, 232,290 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by JVP Management and filed by John Illuzzi with plans filed January 27, 2020 and permitted June 8, 2020. The second largest is a 171-unit, 124,591 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Fetner Properties and filed by Hal Fetner with plans filed March 16, 2021 and permitted June 16, 2022.

The majority, or 76 percent of the 496,030 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 19 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Intervest Capital Partners owned at least 17 commercial properties with 504 residential units in New York City with 1,785,338 square feet and a city-determined market value of $216.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 59 percent of the 1,785,338 square feet of built space are office properties, with elevator properties next occupying 14 percent of the space. The bulk, or 72 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 28 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link