New York Development Group Secures Loans for Luxury Condo Project

By Keiko Morris 

A development group has secured $369 million in financing for a luxury condominium project north of Manhattan's Madison Square Park, despite a slowing market for condo sales in New York.

Victor Group and Lendlease Development Inc. earlier this month obtained a $269 million construction loan for the joint venture's planned tower at 281 Fifth Ave. from a consortium of Singapore-based banks led by United Overseas Bank Ltd.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and DBS Bank Ltd. also were part of the lending group.

The venture also closed on a deal with a subsidiary of Beijing-based ShoKai Group for a $100 million investment for a preferred equity position.

The construction arm of Lendlease Group has long operated in New York. But the $470 million tower will be the first city project for its U.S. development business, which launched a few years ago, said Melissa Roman Burch, head of Lendlease's development and acquisition unit in the New York area.

The project will benefit from the growing difficulty other developers are having obtaining financing, said , executive vice president at Victor Group. That is thinning the supply of new units, he said.

--Ran Korolik

Designed by Rafael Vinoly, the 55-story tower will have 10,000 square-feet of retail space and 130 units ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments.

Write to Keiko Morris at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2017 17:42 ET (22:42 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.