AIG had occupied and beautifully maintained the historic 70 Pine St. for many years but sold it to the Korean Kumho Investment Bank in 2009 for $150 million.
Youngwoo & Associates had advised the bank and planned to convert it to a condominium but could not obtain the financing, ultimately putting it back on the market where it sat for two years.
In June 2011, Yaron “Ronnie” Bruckner, who with partners also owned and had converted 63 Wall, 67 Wall and 20 Exchange Place, decided it would work as a rental and in Dec. paid $205 million for the tower.
Andrew J. Singer and Kathleen McSharry of The Singer & Bassuk Organization financed this purchase deal with the combination of UBS and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
But to get a larger construction loan, the project needed the hand of a major developer who would have immediate acceptance by the lending community as knowledgeable, accurate, and well-respected in the way they market, run and even construct a building.
At the time, banks had changed how they looked at completion guarantors, and would not allow developers to use the same collateral towards different deals.
That led to the brokers identifying and bringing in Rose Associates to become the developer along with Bruckner, who worked on the project with his company, until he passed away in the summer of 2013.
It took a while but once Rose was on board, in Aug. 2012 they began looking for a $300 million loan at a time banks would only provide
$100 million each, meaning they would need three lenders.
The brokers felt the building was special and while they provided the marketing book, they held off negotiating with the dozen targeted banks until they had each toured the building on a beautiful day.
At 68 stories, the Art Deco tower is just under 1,000 feet tall. It is capped by an eight-sided glass rotunda that is entered from a tiny elevator that rises through the floor, and then returns below leaving the floor completely covered.
The bankers were instantly wowed by the 360 degree views from the glass enclosed 35-foot wide observatory. “That was the time to discuss the loan,” said Singer. “I think we made the deal up there.”
But each bank wanted to use their own lawyers and do their own paperwork. Singer and McSharry got them to work on a common term sheet, reconciled the different versions and all the open points; and finally agree on one administrator.
In April 2013, they closed on a $300 million construction loan administrated by the Bank of New York Mellon with M&T Bank and JP Morgan Chase.
