GFP Real Estate, one of New York’s largest privately owned real estate firms, has closed an $86.5 million refinancing loan for a midtown Manhattan office property just a block east of the glitzy Fifth Avenue shopping stretch.
Apple Bank provided the new 10-year, floating-rate permanent loan for 515 Madison Ave. with the new debt replacing a $120 million mortgage secured in 2012 that had been paid down to $81 million, GFP said. As part of the transaction, GFP, which is also based at the address, acquired the minority interest in the building owned by ATCO to gain full control.
Built in 1932 and known as the DuMont Building, the 42-story, 350,000-square-foot class A building, located by 53rd Street, features a broadcasting antenna that traces back to the building’s role in the first television broadcasts of Allen B. DuMont’s experimental television station W2XWV in 1938, GFP said. It added that the building’s entrance and lobby had been restored in 2009 to keep “its beautiful architectural elements intact yet modernized for today's tenants.”
“We’ve experienced many cycles over the years, and disciplined ownership has always been the key,” said Jeffrey Gural, chairman of GFP Real Estate. “Following COVID, we worked diligently to rebuild occupancy, and the building is now 99 percent leased. The successful refinancing of 515 Madison Avenue reinforces the strength of well-located assets and the importance of long-term management.”
The refinancing comes as the Plaza District, the largest U.S. office market and where the property sits, has outpaced New York in leasing demand, even as the city closed last year with its best leasing volume since at least 2019, brokerage data has shown.
The availability rate in the Plaza District stands at 11.7%, notably below the metropolitan average of 13.4%, according to a CoStar analysis. In another sign of New York City’s office leasing rebound, the property’s availability rate has dropped to about 5% from a pandemic peak of 25% in the fourth quarter of 2022, CoStar data shows.
For the record
Paul Talbot, senior managing director of Newmark, represented GFP Real Estate in securing the loan. Iron Hound Management assisted in the negotiation of the extension of the initial loan on behalf of GFP in 2023.