NEW YORK, NY (October 22, 2020), Oct. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MAG Partners today announced that it has secured a $173 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital that will allow work to commence next month on a 479-unit rental residential building at 241 W. 28th Street in Chelsea. The project will be developed under the Affordable NY program with 30 percent of its units reserved for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Renowned architecture firm COOKFOX has designed the building. The project is a joint venture between MAG Partners, Safanad, Atalaya Capital Management and Qualitas, one of the biggest asset managers in Australia.
“As true believers in the future of New York City, we are thrilled to be able to begin construction on this innovative project that will bring mixed-income housing and hundreds of jobs at a critical time for the City,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder and CEO of MAG Partners. “This is an incredibly desirable location as major tech companies continue to sign big leases within walking distance, and we expect to see very strong long-term demand for this property when it opens in 2022.”
MAG Partners acquired the site in December 2018 via a 99-year ground-lease with Edison Properties. The development is expected to be complete in late 2022.
Andrew Trickett, Head of Investments at Safanad, commented, “We are excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this partnership group, led by one of New York’s most respected developers, MaryAnne Gilmartin. With our entry in this transaction concurrent with the closing of this loan, we are now poised to deliver a market leading asset in an irreplaceable location in a city that we believe will come back stronger than ever in the coming years.”
The construction financing was arranged by Adi Chugh of Maverick Commercial Properties. Jeff Rosen from MAG Partners represented ownership. The financing supports construction throughout the estimated 30-month construction period.
“We are very excited to have closed this $173 million loan at a relatively low loan-to-cost with such an esteemed sponsorship group led by MaryAnne Gilmartin of MAG Partners as well as Atalaya and Qualitas,” said Josh Zegen, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Madison. “This marquee 480-unit multifamily rental building, located within a few blocks of Hudson Yards and other prominent tech tenant expansions on the west side, will be one of the only new multifamily rental projects built in Manhattan in the next few years. We were pleased to fill a void which would customarily be financed by conventional banks, and provide our flexibility, certainty, and conviction.”
Mark Fischer, Global Head of Real Estate at Qualitas said, “As a firm we continue to believe in the future of cities as places where the world's most talented and creative minds congregate - we expect New York City to continue to lead the way on that front and the Chelsea neighbourhood to strengthen its attributes as a highly desirable place to live, work and play. We are excited to commence building this project.”
“Maverick CP was excited and honored to take on the assignment of advising on the financing of this marquis project with top class sponsorship in the most challenging financing market in the history of the world. However, the old adage held up and we knew that there is always opportunity in adversity. The sponsorships vision, their capital commitment to the deal, the lender’s resilience, and ability to be creative and constructive allowed all of us to see the financing come to fruition,” said Adi Chung, Managing Partner of Maverick Commercial Properties.
It was previously announced that MAG Partners had selected Rick Cook and COOKFOX, a firm that is the best and most prolific team for innovative contextual and sustainable development in New York, to design the building. The MAG Partners team previously worked with COOKFOX on 550 Vanderbilt and 535 Carlton in the Pacific Park development in Brooklyn.
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About MAG Partners
MAG Partners is a woman-owned, urban real estate company with decades of experience developing impactful, iconic, large-scale projects throughout New York City. Led by MaryAnne Gilmartin, together the MAG Partners team has successfully designed, built and operated over 7 million square feet of office, residential and mixed-use projects, including over 2,000 units of housing, with a total value of over $4.5 billion. The firm believes and has proven that principles of beauty, diversity and sustainability create lasting value.
About Safanad
Founded in 2009, Safanad is a differentiated real estate and private equity investment firm. We predominately focus on value-add and opportunistic real estate investments as well as private equity investments in the healthcare and education sectors, which are typically backed by significant real estate assets. We invest largely in the US and Europe but are global in both our approach and how we leverage our vast network of partners. From offices in New York, London and Dubai, our team of c. 50 professionals have completed more than 40 transactions totaling $10 billion. www.safanad.com
About Atalaya Capital Management
Atalaya Capital Management is a privately held, SEC-registered, alternative investment advisory firm. Atalaya primarily focuses on making private credit and special situation investments in three principal asset classes – specialty finance, real estate and corporate. Founded in 2006, Atalaya is headquartered in New York City and has more than $5 billion in assets under management. For more information visit https://www.atalayacap.com/
About Qualitas
Qualitas is one of Australia’s leading real estate investment management firms specialising in real estate equity and debt investing. Established in 2008, the firm has invested in or financed assets valued at over $8.5 billion since inception. The firm invests across the capital structure in senior debt, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and equity with a focus on development, value add, opportunistic and structured investments. Qualitas manages discretionary funds on behalf of institutional and wholesale clients in Australia, Asia, and Europe.
About COOKFOX
COOKFOX Architects, DPC is a New York City based architectural and interior design studio founded in 2003. COOKFOX has built a studio focused on high-performance, environmentally responsive design and is most well-known for innovative design at the highest standards of environmental performance. COOKFOX focuses on biophilic design to create architecture that supports physical health and mental wellness. With a portfolio of diverse residential, workplace, and education projects, COOKFOX seeks to pursue architecture that restores, regenerates, and elevates our collective experience of the urban environment.
About Madison Realty Capital
Madison Realty Capital is a New York City based real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investment strategies with regional offices in key markets including Los Angeles and Dallas. Founded in 2004, MRC has closed on approximately $12 billion of transactions in the multifamily, retail, office, industrial and hotel sectors. The firm manages investments in the United States on behalf of a global investor base. MRC is a fully integrated firm with over 60 employees across all real estate investment, development, and property management disciplines. Among other industry recognitions, MRC has been named to the Commercial Observer’s prestigious “Power 100” list of New York City real estate players and is consistently cited as one of the industry’s top construction lenders.
Media Contacts:
Renderings available here.
For MAG Partners
Erin Holin / BerlinRosen
For Madison Realty Capital
Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170