Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In November 2015, financial close was reached on a deal in which the Bank of China (BOC) entered into a $220 million USD loan agreement with 165 E 66 Parking, LLC — a Delaware-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) and wholly-owned subsidiary of Crescent Heights, Inc., an American privately-held real estate development company based in Miami, Florida — for the 165 East 66th Street 2015 Refinancing Project. This loan was secured by (i.e. collateralized against) a mortgage against 165 East 66th Street. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance a $135 million USD bridge loan from Blackstone Mortgage Trust made in January 2014 and an additional $85 million USD mortgage for 165 East 66th Street (also known as 1130 Third Ave and branded as Hanley New York), a then-recently developed 20-story 152-unit property residential and retail tower in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York including luxury residences that range from studios to four-bedroom units, an on-site fitness center, resident lounge, and concierge services. At the time of the loan, Crescent Heights had planned to convert the rental apartments into condos, with a lawsuit from the New York State Attorney General about its attempts to force out its rental tenants and other complaints preventing conversion, which was then withdrawn in 2016; later, in 2018, a simpler condo conversion was approved that split the building into retail, garage, and residential sections. In April 2019, CIM Group purchased $200 million USD for the residential portion of the property at 165 East 66th Street and $10 million USD for the garage portion from Crescent Heights, which still retained the ground-floor retail condominium. CIM borrowed $178 million USD from Pimco Commercial Real Estate Debt for the acquisition, which it used to refinance the 2015 BOC debt (which had been transferred and adjusted concurrent with the sale.