SBO arranges $104m financing for 80/20 residential project.

Richard Bassuk, President of The Singer and Bassuk Organization (SBO) announced the closing of a $104 million loan for a 269-unit residential project on Sixth Avenue and 27th Street utilizing a newly-formulated 80/20 financing structure designed for the New York marketplace.

SBO arranged the construction financing for Chelsea 27th Street Apartments LLC ("Chelsea 227th"), comprising affiliates of Matthew Adell and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, for The Aston--an 80/20 residential project.

The financing was provided by low floater tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency ("HFA") under its 80/20 Program, with credit enhancement for the HFA bonds provided under a newly-formulated program that GMAC developed with Fannie Mae.

"Matthew Adell, the developer of the project, maximized every development and construction opportunity in bringing this project to fruition in the booming Chelsea corridor which Mr. Adell and his father, Leonard Adell, are responsible for creating," Mr. Bassuk indicated. "In addition, Mr. Adell completed and rented the Aston substantially ahead of schedule."

Matthew Adell said that Mr. Bassuk's efforts were instrumental in completing the transaction. He went on to state that in acting as broker and financial advisor to the venture from inception, Mr. Bassuk successfully "arranged the joint venture, construction financing and forward commitment." Mr. Adell added, "We are extremely pleased with the results achieved and look forward to working with Mr. Bassuk again in the near future."

Financing 80/20 projects is highly labor intensive and takes specialized knowledge.

To provide the necessary services, SBO has in-house specialists fully experienced with such projects. In order to make the HFA and credit enhancement process as easy as possible for the firm's 80/20 clients, Mr. Bassuk assists the client's financial department providing all analyses and processing required by HFA for the projects, and for arranging the required credit enhancement.

Mr. Adell added, "SBO provides owners/developers with the highest level of service available in the industry. These services include not only the analytical, processing, and brokerage services described above, but also providing advice on the structuring of the transaction, as well as various aspects of its development and construction."