CBRE originates $12.3 million Freddie Mac financing for River View Towers

Manhattan, NY CBRE originated a $12.3 million loan to refinance existing debt and facilitate major capital improvements for River View Towers, a 385-unit, 24-story, Mitchell-Lama cooperative built in 1964 located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of the city’s upper west side.

Mark Fisher and Alex Furnary of the CBRE Capital Markets Debt & Structured Finance team arranged the fixed-rate, 30-year, self-liquidating senior mortgage through its Freddie Mac lending program on behalf of the borrower, River View Towers, Inc.

The $33.3 million total financing package included a $20.4 million subordinate loan from the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and a $577K grant from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). After prepaying the existing debt, approximately $26.5 million will be used for property capital improvements including Local Law 11 façade work, new windows and roof, mechanical upgrades and replacements, and numerous other projects.

“This was a complicated transaction with many moving parts,” said Fisher, senior vice president for CBRE Capital Markets. “It all came together with the incredible cooperation and tireless efforts of HFA, the cooperative’s board, CBRE’s Freddie Mac closing and servicing teams, and their respective professionals.”

“The CBRE team did a fantastic job,” said Alexis Morton, Riverview’s co-op board president. “This was a complicated transaction that CBRE deftly navigated, keeping us well informed throughout the process.”

River View Towers is a Mitchell-Lama cooperative overseen by New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Although residents own their units, they are not market-rate units; sales prices are controlled based on the existing resident’s equity in the unit and can only be sold to the next qualified applicant on the wait list.

Maintenance fees are further controlled and approved by HCR based on the needs of the cooperative.