Meridian Capital Group Arranges $60 Million in Financing for a Midtown West Office Building in New York, NY

March 30, 2018

Meridian Capital Group, America’s most active dealmaker, arranged $60 million in financing to refinance the office component of the mixed-use office building located at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York, NY, on behalf of 729 Acquisition, LLC, an entity owned and controlled by Himmel + Meringoff Properties.

The seven-year balance sheet loan, provided by a local commercial bank, features a competitive fixed-rate of 4.25% and an interest-only component during the initial years of the term. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian Managing Directors, Allan Lieberman and Rael Gervis, who are both based in the company’s New York City headquarters.

The 17-story property contains 164,500 square feet of office space. The building is home to notable tenants including Columbia University, Playbill, Q Prime, the Actors Fund of America, Magno Sound Studios and Key Brand Entertainment. Throughout its history, the building has catered to entertainment related business, at times being known as the United Artists building, housing their New York offices including a penthouse office constructed for Mary Pickford and her future husband, Douglas Fairbanks.

The lobby and entrance was recently remodeled by Dan Shannon of MdeAS Architects. 729 Seventh Avenue boasts a modern, sleek redesigned lobby and double height entryway. The new entry provides light and air while cool, contemporary lobby materials—including Carrara Marble, steel, and glass—create a sanctuary away from the bustle of city life.

“With the lobby renovation completed and new leases signed, Meridian negotiated a refinancing which included income from the spectacular signage unique to the property’s strategic location in the Times Square market,” said Mr. Lieberman.

Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group is America’s most active deal maker and one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance and investment sales firms. In 2017, Meridian closed over 3,000 debt transactions across more than 200 unique lenders and sold nearly $1 billion in commercial property. Since inception, the company has closed more than $300 billion in financing with the full complement of capital providers, encompassing local, regional and national banks, CMBS lenders, agency lenders, mortgage REITs, life insurance companies, credit unions and private equity funds. Meridian represents many of the world’s leading real estate investors and developers and the company’s expansive platform has specialized practices for a broad array of property types including office, retail, multifamily, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, healthcare, student housing and self-storage properties. Meridian is headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and California. www.meridiancapital.com