Vanbarton Group signs $238M refi with Equitable for 588-unit rental in Financial District

Vanbarton Group through the entity Eo 160 Water LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company valued at $238 million for the 588-unit residential elevator building (D5) at 160 Water Street in Financial District, Manhattan.
The deal closed on September 25, 2025 and was recorded on October 1, 2025. The prior lender was Corebridge Financial which held debt that had an original loan amount of $211.2 million.The property has 525,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $453 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 April 30, 2014, for $165 million. The signatory for Vanbarton Group was Damiano Buffa . The signatory for Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company was Peter Gordon .

Prior sales and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Frank Scaffa, head officer and Maria Figueroa, agent. The business entity is Eo 160 Water Llc. The 525,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $30.7 million or $58 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The residential elevator building with 588 residential units in Financial District has 525,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 112 feet and is 232 feet deep with a total lot size of 24,092 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C5-5 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 city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $114 million. Brookfield Asset Management on August 30, 2022 bought a loan with an original principal of 211194731.0 from Corebridge Financial signed by Damiano Buffa, secured by 160 Water Street, when owned by Vanbarton Group.

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 $6,350 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

On the lot, there is one active major alteration construction project, M00613562, for a 592-unit, 460,843 square-foot R-2 building. The project was submitted by Joey Chilelli with plans filed November 16, 2021 and permitted August 24, 2022.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the three commercial properties representing 969,808 square feet of the 971,258 square feet. The two identified owners are Sentry Realty and Vanbarton Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 21,120 square feet. It is a 48-unit, 21,120 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by George Drallios with plans filed December 7, 2018 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 50 percent of the 971,258 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with office buildings next occupying 50 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Vanbarton Group owned at least 19 commercial properties with 1,121 residential units in New York City with 3,155,700 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1 billion. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.4 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Blackstone Group, Blackstone Mortgage Trust, and New York Life Insurance Company respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 65 percent of the 3,155,700 square feet of built space are office properties, with specialty properties next occupying 13 percent of the space. The bulk, or 95 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Bronx next at 5 percent of the space.

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