Lam Generation signs $120M refi loan with MetLife for hotel in Chelsea
Lam Generation through the entity Chelsea 25 Hotel LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender MetLife through the entity Metlife Commercial Mortgage Originator LLC valued at $120 million for the hotel building (H2) at 112-118 West 25th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan.
The deal closed on October 16, 2023 and was recorded on November 6, 2023. The prior lender was Shanghai Commercial Bank which held debt that had an original loan amount of $93.2 million.
The property has 185,831 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 owner bought the property on August 7, 2013, for $67.5 million. The signatory for Lam Generation was Jeffrey Lam. The signatory for MetLife was Justin Besspiata.
Prior sales and revenue
The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Chris Rynkar, head officer and Jeffrey Lam, shareholder. The business entity is Lam Gen 25 LLC.
The property
The hotel building in Chelsea has 185,831 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 85 feet and is 197 feet deep with a total lot size of 8,527 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-6 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $59.2 million. The most recent loan totaled $5 million and was provided by Shanghai Commercial Bank on August 5, 2020.
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 one DOB violation and $12,405 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on January 16, 2020. On the lot, there was one new building construction project for a 341-unit, 141,734 square-foot R-1 building. The project was submitted by Lam Generation and filed by Jeffrey Lam with plans filed September 17, 2014 and permitted February 3, 2016.
The neighborhood
In Chelsea, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 52.4 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Chelsea has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 1.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Manhattan. It had 2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 4 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 11 of the 25 commercial properties representing 675,168 square feet of the 1,107,133 square feet. The largest owner is Vishwaas, followed by Sabet Group and then Rosen Equities.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 329,947 square feet. The largest is a 341-unit, 141,734 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Lam Generation and filed by Jeffrey Lam with plans filed September 17, 2014 and permitted February 3, 2016. The second largest is a 375-unit, 126,733 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Sal Aquilato with plans filed February 14, 2018 and permitted July 29, 2020.
The majority, or 49 percent of the 1.1 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lam Generation owned at least six commercial properties in New York City with 339,662 square feet and a city-determined market value of $104.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $89.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Investors Bank, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, and East West Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 86 percent of the 339,662 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with retail properties next occupying 12 percent of the space. The bulk, or 98 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 2 percent of the space.
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