Williams Equities signs $155M refi with Citibank for office in Flatiron District
Williams Equities through the entity 23rd Street Properties LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender Citibank through the entity Citi Real Estate Funding Inc. valued at $155 million for the office building (O3) at 28 to 40 West 23rd Street in Flatiron District, Manhattan.
The deal closed on April 5, 2024 and was recorded on April 9, 2024. The prior lender was Series 2014-GC23 which held debt that had an original loan amount of $140 million.The property has 439,330 square feet of built space and 120,314 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 559,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $352 and the price per buildable square foot is $276 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 Williams Equities was William E. Stempel. Tenants in the building include credit card company Ramp and Estee Lauder brand Aramis, according to the landlord.
The property
The office building in Flatiron District has 439,330 square feet of built space and 120,314 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 559,600 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 334 feet and is 197 feet deep with a total lot size of 55,960 square feet. The lot is irregular. The property is in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $231.1 million.
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 $25,630 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on November 13, 2012. On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling zero square feet. The largest is a major alteration project for a 245,520 square-foot B building submitted by Luis Iglesias with plans filed April 19, 2019 and permitted July 11, 2019. The second largest is a major alteration project for a 202,906 square-foot B building submitted by Luis Iglesias with plans filed August 15, 2019 and permitted February 14, 2020.
The neighborhood
In Flatiron District, The majority, or 71 percent of the 23.2 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 15 percent of the space. In sales, Flatiron District has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $255.6 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 27th highest in Manhattan. For development, Flatiron District has 2.5 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 14th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 12 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other office buildings in the past 12 months.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 18 commercial properties representing 853,682 square feet of the 1,525,774 square feet. The largest owner is Two Trees Management, followed by Torkian Group and then Thor Equities.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The majority, or 61 percent of the 1.5 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space.
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