Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On September 28, 2016, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of five banks — the Bank of China (BOC), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and TD Bank, N.A. — entered into a $1.5 billion USD syndicated loan agreement with SL Green Realty Corp. — a Maryland-incorporated New York Stock Exchange-listed real estate investment trust focused on Manhattan and Manhattan's largest office landlord — for the One Vanderbilt Project. This loan carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year extension options and an interest rate based on LIBOR plus a margin of 3.50%, with an ability to reduce the margin to 3.00% if certain pre-leasing and completion milestones. This loan was secured by (i.e. collateralized against) a mortgage on One Vanderbilt. This loan came with persoanl recourse to SL Green Realty Corp. Wells Fargo Bank served as administrative agent. BOC, BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase Bank, and TD Bank served as syndication agents and co-leads. Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) served as documentation agent but not lender. Each bank committed $300 million USD, and syndicated $100 million USD to other banks, with 12 lenders at closing and 18 lenders by 2018. Record ID#106585 captures BOC's commitment. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to finance the construction of One Vanderbilt, a 1,401-foot tall 58-floor Class A office tower with 1.6 million square feet of rentable space on an entire block adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, bounded by Madison and Vanderbilt Avenues and 42nd and 43rd Streets, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. Once completed, One Vanderbilt would become the tallest building in Midtown and the second tallest in New York City. The project had an expected cost of $3.1 billion USD, with SL Green seeking to fund $820 million USD of the remaining $1.64 billion USD through joint venture alternatives (50% stake). On January 26, 2017, it was announced that South Korea's National Pension Service and Hines Interests acquired 27.6% and 1.4$ stakes in the project with $525 million USD in equity. SL Green then raised $200 million USD in EB-5 financing and used its cash reserves and credit facilities to pay for the project. In June 2015, the City Council of New York City approved the project. In exchanged for rezoning to allow the tower to reach its planned height, SL Green Realty Corp. agreed to invest $220 million USD in public infrastructure improvements (including a direct link to Grand Central Station). In 2015, Grand Central’s owner Andrew Penson filed a $1.1 billion USD lawsuit against both SL Green and the City of New York over the rezoning of the Vanderbilt Corridor without the purchase of Grand Central rights. The lawsuit was settled in August 2016. AECOM Tishman Construction was the project manager. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates was project designer. Vertical construction was set to begin in the second quarter of 2017 and expected to be completed in 2020. Demolition on the existing buildings on the site began in early 2017. The formal groundbreaking was held on October 18, 2016. The building was formally opened on September 14, 2020. One Vanderbilt tenants included TD Securities, TD Bank, The Carlyle Group, KPS Capital Partners, Oak Hill Advisors, InTandem Capital, SageWind Capital, Sentinel Capital Partners, Greenberg Traurig, McDermott Will & Emery, DZ Bank, Accordion Partners, MFA Financial Inc., Hodges Ward Elliott, Walker & Dunlop, LLC,MSD Partners, Mamoura Holdings LLC, Nearwater Management LLC, Kyndryl, Heidrick & Struggles, International, Inc., and SL Green Realty Corp.. On June 28, 2021, it was announced that a syndicate of nine banks — including BOC — had entered into a $3.0 billion USD syndicated loan agreement with an unspecified special purpose vehicle — a joint venture between SL Green Realty Corp. (71% equity stake), South Korean public pension fund National Pension Service (NPS) (27.6% equity stake), and American privately-held real estate company Hines Interests Limited Partnership (1.4% equity stake) — for the One Vanderbilt 2021 Refinancing Project. This debt, comprised of nine senior A notes, carried a maturity period of 10 years and a fixed interest rate of 2.855%. This debt was secured by (i.e. collateralized) a commercial mortgage-backed security on One Vanderbilt. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance $1.75 billion USD of construction debt on Vanderbilt and return equity to the developers. BOC lent $150 million USD. Record ID#106586 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts: Wells Fargo Bank N.A. ($1.5 billion USD), Goldman Sachs Bank USA ($600 million USD), Bank of America ($150 million USD), Bank of Montreal ($150 million USD), Deutsche Bank ($150 million USD), JPMorgan Chase Bank ($150 million USD), Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc. ($75 million USD), and Citibank N.A. ($75 million USD). Wells Fargo Bank and Goldman Sachs Bank USA served as the lead banks.
Staff comments
1. It is plausible, if not likely, that the specific borrowing institution was a special purpose vehicle subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp. (which then became a joint venture with the later equity partners This issue merits further investigation. 2. As Bank of China is known to have committed $300 million USD and then later syndicated an unclear amount, AidData has coded $300 million USD as the commitment value for the time being. 3. This project is also known as the SL Green's Grand Central-Area Office Project.