TF Cornerstone signs $725M in two construction loans for LIC projects totaling 1,387 units

TF Cornerstone signed two construction loans in Long Island City, Queens, totaling $725 million in two separate transactions, one with Wells Fargo and the smaller with PNC Bank. The loans are for two projects with a total of 1,387 units.

In the larger, TF Cornerstone through the entity Bud North LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender Wells Fargo valued at $418 million for the 812-unit project at 2-21 Malt Drive in Long Island City, Queens.
The deal closed on January 11, 2023 and was recorded on January 18, 2023.
The owner bought the property on May 15, 2019, for $285 million. The signatory for TF Cornerstone was Jeremy Shell.

In the second, TF Cornerstone through the entity Bud South LLC as borrower signed a new construction loan with lender PNC Bank valued at $307 million for the 575-unit project at 2-20 Malt Drive in Long Island City, Queens.
The deal closed on January 11, 2023 and was recorded on January 18, 2023.
The signatory for TF Cornerstone was Jeremy Shell.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property since September of 2020. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $2,500 in ECB penalties and $15,000 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The block

On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 1,223,016 square feet. The largest is a 812-unit, 723,731-square-foot R-2 building submitted by Bruce Weill of TF Cornerstone with plans filed December 14, 2020 and permitted March 3, 2022. The second largest is a 575-unit, 499,285-square-foot R-2 building submitted by Bruce Weill with plans filed December 14, 2020 and permitted March 1, 2022.

The neighborhood

In Long Island City, the bulk, or 33 percent of the 62.1 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 32 percent of the space. In sales, Long Island City has the 9th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.7 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Long Island City is the 5th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 8.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 14 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other industrial buildings in the past 12 months.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that TF Cornerstone owned at least 26 commercial properties in New York City with 9,869,540 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.3 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 96 percent of the 9,869,540 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with office properties next occupying 4 percent of the space. The bulk, or 56 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 41 percent of the space.

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