Dealmaker: Aman, OKO Group Receive $750M Construction Loan

Aman Resorts International, Singapore, and OKO Group, New York, received a $750 million construction loan to finance the development of Aman New York in Midtown Manhattan’s Crown Building.

Located at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street just south of Central Park, the 26-story Crown Building dates to 1921. Former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos owned the building in the 1980s.

The Wall Street Journal reported OKO Group bought the building’s upper floors four years ago for close to $475 million. The new loan will finance the conversion of the space into a high-end mixed-use development with 22 residences totaling 95,000 square foot, a 117,000-square-foot, 83 guest room hotel and retail and restaurant space.

The owners expect the project’s total cost will equal $1.25 billion and anticipate it will open in fourth-quarter 2020.

Cain International, London, provided $450 million in mezzanine financing. Bank OZK, Little Rock, Ark., provided a $300 million senior tranche.

The new loan furthered an existing relationship between Cain International and OKO Group that includes equity shares in three Miami properties, Missoni Baia, Una Residences and 830 Brickell, Miami’s first new office skyscraper in more than a decade.