Greystone Secures $550M to Refinance New York Tower

Greystone, New York, secured $550 million to refinance Sky Residences on Manhattan’s west side, one of the largest residential towers in the country.

Joint-venture partners The Moinian Group and SL Green Realty Corp., both headquartered in New York, received the financing from Freddie Mac, McLean, Va.

A Greystone Bassuk debt advisory team, led by Founder Richard Bassuk and President Drew Fletcher, represented the venture. Greystone CEO Steve Rosenberg, Executive Vice President Billy Posey, Managing Director Joe Mosley and Senior Managing Director Jeff Englund worked with Freddie Mac to structure the loan.

The transaction represented the largest single-asset tax-exempt financing Freddie Mac has completed. The project also used 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and both tax-exempt and taxable variable-rate bonds issued by New York State Housing Finance Agency.

Sky Residences, located at 605 West 42nd Street, includes 1,175 rental units and 70,000 square feet of amenity space in a 71-story tower. Lifetime Fitness and Volvo occupy its commercial space.

The Freddie Mac loan completes an exit from the original construction financing provided by Bank of China and Union Labor Life Insurance Co. in 2014. The permanent loan was structured as a direct purchase by Freddie Mac of the housing finance agency bonds with a pre-stabilized funding and early spread lock. Freddie Mac plans to securitize the bonds in a single-asset securitization, which allowed pricing below a standard bond credit enhancement. The structure was put in place under the Affordable New York Housing Program, the city’s revamped 421-a tax abatement program.