Dealmaker: JLL Secures $100M Construction Financing in Manhattan

JLL, Chicago, secured $100 million in construction financing for 61 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and Chelsea submarkets.

Helaba, Frankfurt, Germany, and CIT Group, New York, provided the loan to Vornado Realty Trust, New York. 

JLL Managing Directors Dustin Stolly and Aaron Appel led the debt-placement team. Stolly said Vornado plans to build a 164,000-square-foot Class A office property on the site. 

“This project is proof that despite tightening market conditions, construction financing remains available for experienced sponsors with well-developed plans,” Stolly said.

The Real Deal New York reported that Vornado purchased the former Prince Lumber site in 2014. “Midtown South’s strength as an office market, driven by technology and media tenants, continues to attract institutional capital,” Appel noted.

The site abuts the Meatpacking District Apple store and sits across the street from Google’s New York headquarters and the Chelsea Market retail-office-television production mixed-use property. Starbucks recently signed a 20-year lease to open its Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room concept in the building. Starbucks will fully occupy the ground floor and lower level retail space, making this site the company’s largest location in the world. Vornado expects the building to deliver later this year.

JLL reported that surrounding properties have sub-1.5 percent vacancy rates. The surrounding neighborhood includes amenities such as the elevated High Line Park and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The new building will include 14.5-foot ceilings with oversized floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor spaces for every floor, Appel said.