Square Mile Provides $161M Loan for NYC Office Tower

By Barbra Murray

One Broadway

Square Mile Capital Management LLC recently came through with $161 million in financing for Rockwood Capital LLC and Midtown Equities LLC’s acquisition and repositioning of One Broadway, an approximately 253,000-square-foot, landmark office tower in downtown Manhattan’s Financial District.

Rockwood and Midtown acquired One Broadway for $139.5 million from Logany LLC in November 2018. The partners plan to transform the 12-story building, originally developed in 1884 as the corporate home of J.P. Morgan’s International Mercantile Marine Co., into a creative office property designed to accommodate corporate headquarters. Square Mile originated mortgage and mezzanine debt for the partners. The transaction marked the first time the investment management firm worked with the sponsorship team, which came to the table with a notable conversion project under its belt.  

One Broadway

“This partnership has proven out a very similar business plan at its Empire Stores project in Dumbo, and we believe it is the ideal team to deliver this type of asset, which will be unique to the Downtown market,” Sean Reimer, principal with Square Mile Capital, said in a prepared statement. Midtown and Rockwood transformed seven historic warehouses to create the roughly 400,000-square-foot Empire Stores office and retail development in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Dumbo neighborhood.

Commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield’s Steve Kohn and Alex Hernandez, vice chairman and executive director, respectively, arranged the financing through Square Mile on Rockwood and Midtown’s behalf. Law firm Goodwin’s Real Estate Industry team provided Rockwood with legal counsel in the transaction.

Lending across the sectors

Square Mile has originated its share of loans for New York City office assets this year, but the firm has been active across multiple property sectors in the Big Apple.

Earlier this year, Square Mile announced that it had provided the McSam Hotel Group with an approximately $23.9 million mezzanine construction loan for the development of a 526-key, dual-branded hotel high-rise in Chelsea. In April, the firm originated a $260 million loan for a joint venture’s construction of a mixed-use tower at 202 Broome St. And more recently, in November, Square Mile supplied Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and BRP Cos. with a $71 million loan secured by The Rennie, a new 134-unit condominium property in Harlem.

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