$6 million in new financing for this 228-unit, six-story, three-building cooperative located on 2.85 acres in Flushing, Queens

Winter & Company has arranged $6 million in new financing for this 228-unit, six-story, three-building cooperative located on 2.85 acres in Flushing, Queens.

The co-op was seeking to refinance an existing mortgage and also to source surplus proceeds to finance a series of upcoming capital projects.

Challenges included the presence of a long-term ground lease on the property (in many cases lenders prefer fee ownership, thus the presence of a ground lease can complicate the financing process), that sets a limit on the maximum allowable size of the underlying mortgage. We were able to mitigate this issue by arranging a large, unsecured, revolving line of credit for the co-op to provide for their future capital needs. The line of credit will allow the co-op to draw down over time as needed as the work proceeds.

The interest rate was locked at 3.05% at application for the $3 million, 10-year, fixed-rate underlying mortgage. The terms of the loan will allow the co-op to pay up to 10% per year of their outstanding principal balance to pay down their loan balance with no pre-payment penalty, giving the co-op the option, but not the obligation, to “self-amortize” their loan.  The interest rate on the $3 million, unsecured, revolving line of credit will float at 1% above the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate.