Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. closes two conventional loans totaling $62 million

Brooklyn, NY The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (BNYDC) closed on two conventional loans, totaling $62 million, to refinance outstanding debt secured through the EB-5 program.

In a transaction with Sterling National Bank, the BNYDC borrowed $30.75 million for a term of 15 years.

In a transaction with Symetra Life Insurance Co., the BNYDC secured $31.68 million for a term of 21.5 years.

David Ehrenberg, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.

The BNYDC was represented by The Singer & Bassuk Organization as financial adviser and mortgage broker, and by Goulston & Storrs as borrower’s counsel. The loan proceeds will be used to pay off an existing $60 million EB-5 loan, plus closing costs. The $60 million EB-5 loan is one of three existing EB-5 loans to BNYDC from affiliates of the New York City Regional Center. Subsequent to this loan from 2009, an additional $42 million EB-5 loan was taken out in 2012.

“These loans demonstrate the financial health of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and place the Yard on strong financial footing as we undergo our largest expansion in 50 years,” said David Ehrenberg, president and CEO of the BNYDC “We are grateful to our financing partners Sterling National Bank and Symetra Life Insurance Co. for their support of our mission to create thousands of good, middle-class jobs for New Yorkers.”

“We are proud to be working as real estate finance advisors to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and excited to have completed the first two of what we hope will be many transactions utilizing the innovative deal structure we conceived together,” said Scott Singer, president of The Singer & Bassuk Organization LLC. 

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is owned by the city of New York and managed by the not-for-profit Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (BNYDC). BNYDC leases space in the Yard, promotes local economic development, develops underutilized areas and oversees modernization of the Yard’s infrastructure. Established in 1801, the Brooklyn Navy Yard served as one of America’s preeminent military facilities for more than 150 years. Today, the Yard is a thriving industrial park with more than 300 businesses that employ over 7,000 people. In 2011, BNYDC opened the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92—an exhibition, visitors and employment center—to celebrate the Yard’s past, present and future and its role as a national model for sustainable urban industry and job creation.

The Singer & Bassuk Organization LLC is a boutique real estate finance brokerage and advisory intermediary firm. Led by Chairman & CEO Andrew J. Singer, and President Scott A. Singer, the firm’s sole focus and activity is acting as a fiduciary to sophisticated New York City-based property owners and developers seeking best-in-class advisory and brokerage services in connection with securing debt and equity for their real estate projects.