| |
 |
 |
BofA, Durst Refinance One Bryant Park LEED Platinum Building For $1.29BB
June 26 (Bloomberg) -- A group of banks has provided Bank of America and the closely held Durst Organization almost $1.28 billion to refinance their environmentally “green” tower near midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park in New York.
Chairman Douglas Durst described the deal as the first major real estate financing completed in the U.S. since capital markets crashed last fall. The money will continue to pay construction costs for the nation’s first commercial tower certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as “LEED Platinum” for its energy conservation technology, spokesman Jordan Barowitz said.
“It was the largest skyscraper designed and built after Sept. 11, 2001, and now it’s the first building to get a large loan after the credit markets froze last year,” Durst said in a mayor’s office news release. “We are hopeful that this financing will engender additional lending and get our city, state and nation’s economies back on track.”
Cook + Fox Architects, who designed the building, say it will feature “innovative, high-performance environmental technologies” including advanced under-floor air ventilation, translucent insulating glass in floor-to-ceiling windows, onsite electric generation through recaptured heat and gas, and conservation through waterless urinals and the recycling of rain, ground and waste water.
The new loan is $325 million more than the original commitment, reflecting the enhanced value of the tower since it opened in May 2008, Barowitz said.
City-State Support
The city and state helped pay for construction with $650 million in low-interest loans financed through tax-exempt Liberty Bonds. These were authorized by the U.S. Congress to spur economic development and reconstruction after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
The 55-story tower, a 50/50 joint venture of Bank of America and the Durst Organization, overlooks Bryant Park and Manhattan’s main library branch at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue. The building is 98 percent leased and scheduled for completion in 2010, Barowitz said.
Bank of America provided half of the current loan, with the other half coming in almost equal shares from Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Westdeutsche Immobilien Bank and Helaba Bank, according to Barowitz.
Although the state and city played almost no role in the refinancing deal, its size led public officials to express optimism that frozen credit markets have begun to thaw.
“I hope that this positive news will spur a renewed sense of optimism that our economy is beginning to rebound and that such deals can be achieved,” said Governor David Paterson.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news release that the financing commitment was “a great vote of confidence” in the city’s economic future and “a great indication that New York City remains well poised for growth.”
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
[Close]
|
 |
|