MRR Secures $170M Loan for Manhattan Condo Tower
Residential tower will rise on "Billionaire's Row" on East 57th Street.
MRR Capital and partner Zahi Hagag have closed on a $170M construction loan for a 28-story residential tower that will rise at 126 East 57th Street, the Manhattan neighborhood known as Billionaire’s Row.
Bank OZK is providing the construction loan for the 180K SF condo tower. Construction is underway and expected to be completed in 2025.
MRR and Hagag, an Isreali billionaire, paid $103M in 2019 for a collection of 13 parcels at the southeast corner of E. 56th St. and Lexington Ave. The seller was Kiska Development, a Turkish development firm.
The new condo tower will have an entrance on E. 57th St. According to the plans, the building will consist of 145 condominium units, all of which will be sold at market rate. The plans were filed in July, but the developers had to go to court to gain access to a neighbor’s property, an aging building at 124 East 57th Street.
New York’s building code requires a pre-construction survey documenting the condition of all adjacent buildings. The developers had to file a “request for entry” with the New York State Supreme Court to gain access to the property at 124 E. 57th so they can install netting and other building protections that are required for demolitions.
Several competing condo towers are in the neighborhood, including Vornado’s 220 Central Park South, Extell Development’s One57 and Macklowe and CIM’s 432 Park Avenue, with units fetching some of the highest prices in Manhattan.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, an unidentified buyer agreed to purchase an 8,000 SF unit on the 82nd floor of 432 Park Avenue earlier this year for about $70M, or $8,750/SF.
The latest Elliman Report, which tracks condo sales in NYC, said signed contracts increased in Manhattan month over month in November for the third time since August. However, new condo listings—which doubled to nearly 800 in Manhattan in September—gave up all of their gains and dropped back down to 400 in November.
Compared to 2021, signed condo contracts are down 57% in Manhattan, while new listings are down about 17%.
New condo listings also have plunged for the past two months in Brooklyn, dropping from more than 300 in September to 181 in November.