$16 million credit facility for a 21-story, 153-unit cooperative building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side

Winter & Company has successfully arranged a new $16 million credit facility for this 21-story, 153-unit cooperative building located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Winter & Company was able to lock in a 3%, 10-year fixed rate, interest-only loan for the board of directors of this well-maintained, luxury co-op building.  

Challenges and Solutions: 

This financing assignment took shape right at the peak of the pandemic, at a time of pessimism over Manhattan’s full return to normal, and during a time when retail vacancies in Manhattan were rampant and rising. In this case, the co-op’s long-time retail tenant at the base of the building was a national drugstore chain, whose lease came to an end in December 2020, leaving a large, nearly block-long retail space vacant. Also, the old retail tenant had been paying an above-market rent that was not likely to be replaced. Needless to say, this situation needed to be communicated to the new lender, along with a viable plan to mitigate the significant missing income, until such time as a new tenant could be sourced and a lease signed. 

Another significant challenge was the need to arrange a new underlying mortgage from a lender that would provide a forward commitment, whereby the new lender would agree to lock in the rate roughly six months prior to closing. The idea was to delay the closing of the new loan until the pre-payment penalty on the old mortgage dropped by 1% on a certain date, thus saving the co-op a considerable amount of money. 

Winter & Company was able to overcome both of these challenges on behalf of the co-op board. 

The new financing includes a $13,000,000 underlying mortgage and also provides the co-op with a $3,000,000, unsecured, revolving line of credit to address any needs and contingencies that may arise over the next 10 years.