Vornado, Aurora sign $161M refi with UBS for two office properties in Chelsea

Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates through the entity 61 Ninth Avenue Development LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender UBS through the entity UBS AG, Stamford Branch valued at $161 million for two office properties including the office building (O6) at 61 9th Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan and the adjacent office building (O6) at 404 West 15th Street.
The deal closed on May 8, 2026 and was recorded on May 13, 2026. The prior lender was Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg which held debt that had an original loan amount of $167.5 million. The two properties have 277,626 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $579 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 Vornado Realty Trust  and Aurora Capital Associates was Steven Borenstein . A Vornado press release said the prior loan was $155 million.

Because multiple properties have been transacted, some of the following sections will follow the property with the largest assessed value, which in this case, is the property on 61 9th Avenue.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

The two properties with a total of 277,626 square feet of built space generated revenue of $27.4 million per year or $99 per square foot.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $825 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the two buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. On these lots, there was a new building construction project, 121193261, for a 122,962 square-foot office B building at 61 9th Avenue. The project was submitted by Aurora Capital Associates and filed by Bobby Cayre with plans filed May 21, 2015 and permitted January 3, 2017.

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 8th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.5 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 13th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There were 75 pre-foreclosure suit filed among other office buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On the tax block of 61 9th Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of nine of the 15 commercial properties representing 712,298 square feet of the 1,064,910 square feet. The largest owner is Google, followed by Taconic Partners and then Vornado Realty Trust.
On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 230,670 square feet. The largest is a 122,962 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Aurora Capital Associates and filed by Bobby Cayre with plans filed May 21, 2015 and permitted January 3, 2017. The second largest is a 107,708 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Steves Barthel with plans filed June 24, 2008 and permitted June 2, 2016.

The majority, or 78 percent of the 1.1 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Vornado Realty Trust owned at least 68 commercial properties with four residential units in New York City with 22,283,361 square feet and a PincusCo-determined asset value of $15.6 billion. The portfolio has $8.2 billion in debt, with top three lenders as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 52 percent of the 22,283,361 square feet of built space are office properties, with condo properties next occupying 28 percent of the space. The bulk, or 88 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Queens next at 9 percent of the space.

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