SBO arranges $120m Liberty Bond deal.

Richard Bassuk, President of The Singer and Bassuk Organization announced the closing of $120 million in Liberty Bond and other financing for 88 Leonard Street, a 386,000 s/f property located in TriBeCa which will contain 352 residential apartments, retail space, professional space, and a parking garage.

The owner developers of the property are Boymelgreen Developers, Inc. and Africa Israel Investments Ltd. who leased the land from Edison Properties, LLC under a 99-year lease.

SBO arranged the construction leasehold financing for the 88 Leonard Street Liberty Bond project, including financing provided by low-floater tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency under its Liberty Bond Program, together with credit enhancement in the form of a $120 million Letter of Credit for the HFA bonds provided by Eurohypo A.G., New York Branch.

Shaya Boymelgreen, President of Boymelgreen Developers, Inc., said "It was a pleasure working with both HFA and Eurohypo on this transaction, and we were pleased with their high degree of professionalism.

"We are extremely pleased with their hands-on approach and with the results achieved and look forward to working with SBO again in the near future." Mr. Bassuk said, "SBO provides owners/developers with the highest level of attention and service available in the industry in connection with both bond issuance by HFA or HDC (New York City Housing Development Corporation), as well as obtaining the necessary credit enhancement for the transaction."

The completion of the Liberty Bond financing for the 88 Leonard Street project marked SBO's latest success in completing financings of projects under the 80/20 and Liberty Bond Programs.

Other recently completed transactions include the $104 million financing for Chelsea 27th Apartments under New York State's 80/20 residential program, the $145.2 million construction loan for 63 Wall Street under the Liberty Bond Program with HDC, and the $82.9 million construction loan for 90 Washington Street under the Liberty Bond Program, also with HDC. Mr. Bassuk indicated he is actively working on other substantial 80/20 and Liberty Bond transactions for both construction and permanent financing, some of which are expected to close shortly.