The Durst Organization, the largest private owner of commercial real estate in New York City, is refinancing the debt in two of its midtown Manhattan office buildings through a $1.1 billion single-borrower commercial mortgage securitization.
According to ratings agency presale reports, the family-run Durst is receiving a $283.5 million return of equity in the transaction.
The CMBS transaction, DOLP 2021-NYC, will involve the issuance of trust certificates that represent a beneficial interest in a 10-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan Durst took out for its buildings at 1133 Avenue of the Americas and 114 West 47thStreet, both near the Bryant Park area.
The loan was underwritten by Bank of America, Citi Real Estate Funding and Wells Fargo.
The trust will issue eight classes of notes, including a $492.5 million Class A tranche with preliminary AAA ratings from Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency.
The loan will retire about $800 million of existing debt: a $200 billion balance-sheet loan encumbering the 44-story Avenue of the Americas building and $600 million of an existing credit facility.
The Avenue of the Americas building, originally constructed in 1970, has undergone about $69.3 million in interior and exterior updates and upgrades, including creating ‘turn-key’ office suites, modernized elevators and plaza improvements. Among its tenants are law firm Patterson, Belknap Webb & Tyler, Chubb Insurance, ING Financial Holdings, Bank of America, Take-Two Interactive Software and the National Basketball Players Association union offices.
For 114 West 47th, most of the 1.1 million square feet of net rentable area is utilized by Bank of America, which took over the space after acquiring U.S. Trust, a former institution that made the buildings its headquarters.
Both properties were 94.8% leased as of February 2021, according to presale reports.
