Red Apple Group signs $57M construction loan for 104-unit project in Chelsea
John Catsimatidis’s Red Apple Group through the entity Ra 280 Development, LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender JPMorgan Chase valued at $57 million for the retail building (K1) at 280 8th Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan.
On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, M00696323, for a 104-unit, 88,548-square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Red Apple Group and filed by Maria Rosenfeld with plans filed May 25, 2022 and permitted March 7, 2024.
The deal closed on July 25, 2024 and was recorded on August 2, 2024. The prior lender was JPMorgan Chase which held debt that had an original loan amount of $3.4 million.
The signatory for Red Apple Group was John A. Catsimatidis. The signatory for JPMorgan Chase was David Arza.
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 $12,250 in ECB penalties and $13,300 in OATH penalties in the last year.
The neighborhood
In Chelsea, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52.5 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 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 1.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 19th highest in Manhattan. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 10 of the 17 commercial properties representing 477,245 square feet of the 530,199 square feet. The largest owner is Abraham Lokshin, followed by Chabad Young Professionals and then City Of New York.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project, which is this one.
The majority, or 76 percent of the 530,199 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 13 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Red Apple Group owned at least six commercial properties in New York City with 20,177 square feet and a city-determined market value of $13.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $270.2 million in debt, with top three lenders as Bank of America, M&T Bank, and Wells Fargo respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 100 percent of the 20,177 square feet of built space are retail properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
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