A firm that focuses on high-end townhouse redevelopment has bought two of them, paying $21.5 million. The buyer plans to refurbish them and sell them off for nearly double what it paid.
A Long Island-based investment firm acquired 55 W. 90th St. on the Upper West Side and 36 W. 10th St. in the West Village, which is among the hottest residential neighborhoods in the city, in two separate deals.
Townhouses have been among the most valuable real estate in the residential market, with choice listings competing with exorbitant penthouse apartments at the top of a crop of new super-tall buildings for the mantle of the city’s most expensive residences.
Financing for the deal was arranged by the sales and mortgage brokerage Berko & Associates. The company sourced a $25.85 million bridge loan for the acquisition with a Long Island lender. The Borrower will use the funds, which exceed the purchase price, to also pay for construction expenses.
The deal exemplifies the higher loan values that lenders, especially banks that offer specialty mortgages, are willing to extend to residential deals at a time when prices continue to soar. Initially, the Borrower had planned on pouring more equity into the deal, according to Elliot Taub, a senior associate at Berko & Associates who arranged the loan with colleague Michael Korine.
“We reduced the amount of equity needed by 50%,” Mr. Taub said.