$112M refinancing closed on West Street landmark.

American Property Financing (APF) announced the recent closing of a $112 mm refinancing transaction for 90 West Street in Lower Manhattan, which is being rehabilitated and converted into a 23-story luxury-apartment rental property.

Originally constructed in 1908 as a commercial office space, 90 West Street is now a designated NYC Landmark. It was converted to residential usage in 2005. The building facility contains (410) residential units (including two employee units); 5,853 square feet of grade level retail space; and an 80-car indoor garage. The specific APF lending proposal is to replace the existing letter of credit with a long-term Fannie Mae credit enhancement facility of $112 million in New York City HDC variable rate Liberty Bonds comprised of $104 mm of tax-exempt bonds and $8 mm of taxable paper.

The Liberty Bond program is a low-cost, tax-exempt bond financing initiative sponsored by both the City and State of New York to support rebuilding efforts in the wake of 9/11 within the Liberty Zone of Lower Manhattan. This area is defined as south of Canal Street, across to East Broadway, and onto Grand Street from the Hudson to East River. Through this program the HDC has been granted the authority to issue Liberty Bonds to provide financing for new construction; or substantially rehabilitated multifamily rentals.

The Kibel Company, BD Hotels, and Brack Capital Real Estate Corp. (APF's client borrower) have spared no detail in undertaking this rehab project, in an effort to successfully return 90 West Street to its turn-of-the-century glory and preserving its NYC Landmark status, arble columns for the main entrance were custom fabricated in Italy, while hand-carved gargoyles again adorn the building's facade.