Manhattan Spec Office Gets $40M Construction Loan

76 Eighth Ave.

HFF has arranged a $39.6 million construction loan for 76 Eighth Ave., a 10-story, 34,364-square-foot, speculative boutique office building with ground-floor retail, on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 14th Street at the edge of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The firm worked on behalf of the borrowers, Noviprop LLC and Plus Development, to place the construction loan with G4 Capital Partners.

Designed by Gene Kaufman with interiors by Raad Studio, 76 Eighth Avenue will feature ground-floor retail, nine floors of office space and a common roof deck for tenants. Targeted at tech and financial firms, the building is scheduled for delivery in summer 2020. 

Ground will be broken for the project in three weeks, John Dunne, director with Plus Development, told Commercial Property Executive.

The site is at a five-way intersection at the edge of the Meatpacking District, with its trendy hotels, restaurants and retailers, and is also near such amenities as the High Line, Hudson River Park, the Whitney Museum and Chelsea Market. The location has immediate access to public transportation with the 14th Street Subway station directly in front.

The Meatpacking submarket has attracted top tenants, including Diane von Furstenberg, Alibaba and Google, which is located one block north of 76 Eighth Ave. 

The HFF debt placement team representing the borrowers was led by Senior Director Peter Rotchford, Managing Directors Chris Peck and David Giancola and Analyst Kristen Knapp.

“Noviprop has owned the site since the early 1980s and we are excited to watch them contribute to one of Manhattan’s most popular boutique office markets,” Rotchford said in a prepared statement.

Dunne noted that the site had previously been occupied by three two-story buildings and that a deli had been operated by the owners for many years in the corner building.

Finishing strong

Boutique or creative office space has been a booming part of Manhattan’s office scene, in buildings both new or vintage-and-renovated. In October, WeWork preleased all 115,000 square feet of office space at 149 Madison Ave., a century-old building being renovated by Columbia Property Trust.

The Manhattan office market had a strong 2018 and a strong finish to the year, according to a fourth-quarter report from Cushman & Wakefield. New York City hit a record high of 1 million jobs and also completed 14 straight months with unemployment below 4.5 percent. 

Office leasing across Manhattan notched an all-time best for leasing, too, with 10.2 million square feet in the fourth quarter, leaving vacancy down at 9.2 percent. 

Image courtesy of Plus Development