LeFrak signs $31M refi with Bank of New York Mellon for 231-unit rental in Upper West Side

LeFrak through the entity James West Ninety Limited Liability Company as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Bank of New York Mellon valued at $31 million for the 231-unit residential elevator building (D7) at 620 Columbus Avenue in Upper West Side, Manhattan.
The deal closed on January 14, 2026 and was recorded on January 16, 2026. The prior lender was Bank of New York Mellon which held debt that had an original loan amount of $45 million. The property has 239,598 square feet of built space and 62,540 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 302,130 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $129 and the price per buildable square foot is $102 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 LeFrak was Arnold S. Lehman . The signatory for Bank of New York Mellon was Michael Bennett.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes David Bernhardt, head officer and Margaret Broda, officer. The business entities are Estates Ny Real Estate Services Llc and James West Ninety Llc. The 239,598-square-foot property generated revenue of $13.1 million or $55 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 231 residential units in Upper West Side has 239,598 square feet of built space and 62,540 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 302,130 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 201 feet and is 150 feet deep with a total lot size of 30,213 square feet. The zoning is C1-9 which allows for up to 2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $64.6 million. The property has 20 rent regulated units according to city tax records from 2024.

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 $400 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 three of the four commercial properties representing 708,057 square feet of the 941,937 square feet. The two identified owners are New York City Housing Authority and Lefrak.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

All properties are elevator.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that LeFrak owned at least 50 commercial properties with 8,909 residential units in New York City with 10,120,372 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.5 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 88 percent of the 10,120,372 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 59 percent of the built space, is in Queens, with Manhattan next at 35 percent of the space.

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