NEW YORK CITY-2 Gold LLC, an affiliate of Rockrose Development, has closed on a $217-million Liberty Bond credit transaction for Two Gold St. in Lower Manhattan. The transaction replaces a $180-million in short-term construction financing.

American Property Financing and the New York City Housing Development Corp. arranged the recent transaction. APF replaced the short-term construction letter of credit with a long-term Fannie Mae credit enhancement facility. The financing is comprised of $162 million in New York City HDC tax-exempt Liberty Bonds plus $55 million in taxable bonds.

The former Fleet Real Estate Finance Group arranged the original financing to support the construction of the 51-story residential apartment building. It carried a total development cost of approximately $225 million.

The building features 650, studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, 9,100 sf of retail space and a 98-car parking garage. Rockrose tore down the original structure at the site which included a mix of office and commercial space. Major building improvements were completed in early 2005 and initial apartment occupancy began last March.

This transaction represents "the largest single-asset bond transaction in the history of APF and the New York City Housing Development Corp.," says Alan Wiener, APF chairman. Locally based APF maintains a loan-servicing portfolio of approximately $9 billion in assets.

The Liberty Bonds program is an $8-billion tax-exempt private activity bond program created for rebuilding portions of New York City affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. "Rebuilding Lower Manhattan is essential to the city's future, and Liberty Bonds are helping us transform it into a 24/7 community," says Bill Traylor, HDC's then-acting president, when the project first received financing. "2 Gold St. is key to our overall vision for Lower Manhattan."