NEW YORK CITY-Meridian Capital Group said Tuesday it had arranged a $200-million acquisition loan for RXR Realty’s acquisition of 1330 Ave. of the Americas. The transaction was brokered by Ralph Herzka, Meridian’s president and CEO, and managing director Rael Gervis; loan terms and the lender were not disclosed, although Meridian said the loan originated with a New York-centered bank.

In November, GlobeSt.com confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal that a group of investors led by Uniondale, NY-based RXR had signed a contract for about $400 million to acquire the 461,000-square-foot-office tower. Mezzanine lender Otera Capital, a unit of Canada-based Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, had seized 1330 Sixth Ave. in a May 2009 foreclosure auction after owner Macklowe Properties defaulted on a $130-million mezz loan, Bloomberg reported last year.

Otera placed the minimum bid of $100,000 on the 40-story tower, Bloomberg reported in '09, while city property records show that the lender assumed the $240-million mortgage on the property. Macklowe had paid $498 million at the height of the market in 2006, months before the developer acquired the Equity Office Properties portfolio from Blackstone for $7.2 billion. The $400-million sale to RXR, while below the price paid at the ’06 peak, is well above the distressed price of $500 per square foot that another former Macklowe tower, Worldwide Plaza at 825 Eighth Ave., sold for last year.

Separately, Otera announced in late November that it had sold 1330 Sixth to RXR and confirmed the reported $400-million price tag. “This sale allows Otera to recoup more than its original investment and while 1330 is a great asset, it is not in Otera’s mandate to own properties for the long term, being first and foremost a lender,” according to a release from Otera. Furthermore, according to the release, Caisse “currently owns a substantial amount of real estate in the New York area and was not looking to increase its holdings at the present time.”

The acquisition marks RXR’s second direct investment in Manhattan this year, and in fact its second since being formed in 2007. This past spring, it acquired a 49% interest in the 739,000-square-foot office tower at 340 Madison Ave. for an estimated $279.3 million.

At that time, RXR CEO Scott Rechler said in a release that the current market represented “the opportune time to be investing in Manhattan, as the leasing markets have bottomed and are primed for a near-term recovery.” Similarly, Otera CEO Ross Brennan says in a release announcing the 1330 Sixth deal, “We are happy to see the resurgence of office real estate in the New York market. Our patience paid off.”