Bizzi Secures $313M Loan for Financial District Condo Tower

It only took six years, but they’ll finally be able to top off the 88-story luxury condo tower in Manhattan’s Financial District at 125 Greenwich Street.

Private equity firm Northwind Group has provided a $313M construction loan to developer Bizzi & Partners to put the finishing touches on the 273-unit luxury condo project. A Walker & Dunlop team arranged the financing.

Fortress Investment Group was added to the project as a co-developer after acquiring the project’s previous construction loan. EB-5 lender US Immigration Fund is staying on as a partner in 125 Greenwich, which broke ground in 2017.

The Greenwich St. condo tower—a 912-foot-tall tower that is just a few stories short of supertall classification—seemed to be a magnet for unexpected hurdles soon after construction began.

The issues included a falling out between Bizzi and the project’s original partner, Cindat, a Chinese firm. Another developer had to bow out due to tax difficulties.

Lender United Overseas Bank filed a foreclosure suit against the tower, which had trouble selling units. In December 2018, Douglas Elliman, the brokerage selling condos at 125 Greenwich, cut sale prices to meet a deadline set by a Singaporean bank.

Elliman will handle condo sales as the building is completed.

Lower Manhattan is busy with some major office-to-apartment conversions, including the largest such project in the US at 25 Water Street.

GFP Real Estate, Metroloft and Rockwood Capital disclosed plans in November to convert 25 Water Street into 1,200 rental units. The partners reportedly are in negotiations with MSD partners on a $500M construction loan on the project.

In June, GFP and Metroloft entered an agreement earlier this year purchase 25 Water Street, a 1.1M SF office tower formerly known as 4 New York Plaza. The building is owned by Edge Funds, which acquired the property for $270M in 2012 from Harbor Group, holds a $250M mortgage on the building.

Newmark negotiated the transaction, which is expected to close this year and involves a deed in lieu of foreclosure deal. The building’s anchor tenant and former owner, JPMorgan, listed for subleasing 500K SF of the 700K SF it has leased at 25 Water.

JPMorgan is consolidating its offices at its new 2.5M SF headquarters tower at 270 Park Avenue, which is scheduled to open in 2025. The bank’s lease at 25 Water expires in January 2025.