NEW YORK CITY-Natixis Real Estate Capital LLC has provided a $128 million floating-rate loan to the Chetrit Group, Clipper Equity and Robert Wolf from Read Property Group for the acquisition and pre-development of five former hospital buildings on East 19th Street, in Manhattan's Gramercy neighborhood. The buildings, which contain a combined 395,290 square feet, formerly housed the Cabrini Medical Center.

The developer group will convert the existing structure into a 372-unit luxury residential development. The loan is for one year, with one three-month extension, Natixis managing director and head of real estate finance Gregory Murphy tells GlobeSt.com.

The firm—which has provided Chetrit with debt financing both for previous and current projects—is bullish on the Gramercy area. “There's tremendous demand for luxury rental apartments in Lower Manhattan,” Murphy says. “Vacancy rates are extremely low right now.”

Chetrit is a repeat borrower, adds David Schwartz, VP of Natixis Real Estate Finance, Americas. “We did its Columbus Square apartments project on the Upper West Side and we have two other loans with the company,” he says. “One is for a renovation of the Hotel Chelsea and another is a residential conversion on 52^nd Street between 9^th and 10^th Avenues.

Natixis is pleased to support Chetrit, Schwartz notes. “We've had a lot of success with [Chetrit], it's a great developer with a lot of interesting projects across Manhattan. We love working with the company.”

Instant Insights /

Former Cabrini Medical Center to Become Luxe Apts.

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