Funding dispute between Columbia Pacific and JTRE in FiDi; sources expect resolution by year end

Columbia Pacific Advisors and JTRE are engaged in a funding dispute over construction at a third Manhattan commercial property, 14 Vesey Street in the Financial District, which has loans totaling $27.8 million. This suit filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court is similar to two other cases the lender filed last week claiming defaults at JTRE retail renovation projects. All three cases are related, according to a source, and should be resolved by the end of the year with construction resuming in January 2024.

In the newest case filed yesterday, Seattle-based lender Columbia Pacific Advisors alleges a loan it provided to JTRE in 2021 to purchase and renovate the commercial building 14 Vesey Street in the Financial District of Manhattan was in default. Although the complaint lists allegations of loan defaults, it is not a pre-foreclosure action nor is it seeking a money judgment. LINK

JTRE bought the property from New York County Lawyers Association for $19 million on April 22, 2021. JTRE borrowed $26 million from Columbia Pacific Advisors at the time to purchase and renovate the asset.

Court filings represent the position of one party and are not necessarily accurate or complete.

JTRE is a retail-focused investment firm headed by Jack Terzi.

The property

The office building in Financial District has 30,000 square feet of built space and 45,801 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 75,830 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 101 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,583 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C5-3 which allows for up to 15 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 10 times FAR for residential with inclusionary housing. The property is in the Individual Landmark. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $5 million. The most recent loan totaled $18.1 million and was provided by CPIF Lending on April 22, 2021.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received five DOB violations in the last year.

There were no additional lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Financial District, The majority, or 74 percent of the 79.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Financial District has the 4th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.7 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Financial District is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 12.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 16 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of one of the seven commercial properties representing 30,000 square feet of the 1,330,946 square feet. The identified owner is JTRE Holdings. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 16 Vesey Street, PincusCo identified eight commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those eight items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on May 25, 2022 for the $15.5 million renovation of 84,369-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 19 residential units at 1 Park Row. Of those eight items, seven were sales above $5 million totaling $114.4 million. The most recent of the seven was The Garden Hue LLC which bought one condo unit in the 3,699-square-foot, 158-unit mixed-use building (RM) on 99 Church Street for $12.1 million from Salmira Residences, LLC on December 18, 2023.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.