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Overview

Bank of China provides a $103 million USD loan to Moinian Group for the 572 11th Avenue (Oskar) Project (Linked to Record ID#105472)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$109,605,017
Commitment Year•2017Country of Activity•United StatesDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•UnknownOverseas Jurisdiction•United StatesSector•Business And Other ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Nov 1, 2017
End (actual)
Jan 1, 2018

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

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The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to finance the construction of its 13-story, 164-unit Oskar multifamily rental apartment tower at 572 11th Avenue / 555 W. 43rd Street in the Far West Side and Hell's Kitchen in New York City, New York. Its exact address is Oskar Luxury Apartments, 555 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. More detailed locational information can be found at https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/265317865

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • Unspecified Special Purpose Vehicle (572 11th Avenue (Oskar))

Implementing agencies

Private Sector

  • CetraRuddy Architecture D.P.C.

Loan desecription

Bank of China provides a $103 million USD loan to Moinian Group for the 572 11th Avenue (Oskar) Project

Interest type•Variable Interest Rate

Collateral

This loan was secured by a full mortgage on 572 11th Avenue / 555 W. 43rd Street in New York City, New York.

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In November 2017, the New York Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) entered into a $103,000,000 USD construction loan agreement with an affiliate of the Moinian Group LLC — a privately-held real estate developer based in New York City — for the 572 11th Avenue (Oskar) Project. This loan was structured as a letter of credit enhancing taxable variable-rate bonds issued by The New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), with a full mortgage (collateral) on 572 11th Avenue. Greystone Bassuk negotiated on behalf of the borrower. Record ID#105471 captures this loan. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to finance the construction of its 13-story, 164-unit Oskar multifamily rental apartment tower at 572 11th Avenue / 555 W. 43rd Street in the Far West Side and Hell's Kitchen in New York City, New York. The tower included 185,000 gross square feet for its 164 units and over 25,000 square of street-level and bellow-grade retail space. 25% of the units (46 apartments) were set aside for low and moderate income households pursuant to the new 421-a Program and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) Inclusionary Housing Program. Moinian acquired the site in 204 for $5.9 million USD. CetraRuddy served as project designer. Construction was completed in 2018. Then, in February 2020, BOC entered into a $105,000,000 USD loan agreement with the Moinian Group affiliate for the 572 11th Avenue (Oskar) 2020 Refinancing Project. This loan carried a fixed interest rate of 2.82% and a maturity period of 10 years. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to retire (refinance) the existing $103 million USD construction loan debt for the Oskar residential building at 572 11th Avenue. Record ID#105472 captures this loan.

Staff comments

1. AidData assumes that the affiliate of the Moinian Group was a project company / special purpose vehicle (SPV) owning the project. The exact name is unknown. This issue merits further investigation. 2. Letter of Credit Enhancement is a letter of credit (LOC) is a guarantee from a bank promising to make payments if the borrower cannot. In this case, the loan itself wasn’t just cash lent directly. Instead, Bank of China issued a letter of credit backing the bonds. Taxable Variable-Rate Bonds are bonds that investors buy, and their interest rate fluctuates with market conditions (not fixed). Therefore, New York State Housing Finance Agency issued taxable variable-rate bonds to raise money. Bank of China structured its loan not as direct cash, but as a letter of credit guaranteeing payment on those bonds. As a result, investors considered the bonds as safer because repayment was backed by China's strong credit rating. While this structure is not a loan in the traditional sense (no lump sum), it is a credit facility: if the bank is required to step in to pay, the LOC immediately converts to a loan owned by the borrower to the bank.