The new owner of 351 Canal St. has plans to modernize the five-story SoHo property, which became a reality recently with the closure of a bridge loan featuring an industry-setting low annual interest rate from a conventional lender. "We were able negotiate an unbelievable deal." said David Eisen of Eastern Union Funding, who arranged the financing. "A handful of bridge lenders were quoting this deal in the six-to-seven percent range, but, because the deal was so secure, a traditional bank offered an extremely competitive short term loan, even though it's not one of their typical products." Eisen arranged a 24-month bridge loan for $17.25 million at 4.375%-shockingly low for bridge loans, where the interest rates can run nearly three times that amount. The loan was provided by Investors Bank. Operating under an LLC titled 351 Canal, the property was purchased for $24.75 million last summer from Tunnel Holdings LLC. Mordy Getz of Transition Acquisitions, a New York City-based real estate management company that manages 351 Canal, has unveiled planned renovations for the retail component of the property. "We're getting a great deal of interest from national retail tenants, and we're taking the appropriate steps to make this space suitable for whichever brand we enter a lease agreement with," Getz said. These steps mainly involve the building's two bottom floors, which originally held three commercial tenants and will be converted into one loft with 28-foot ceilings and 5,000 s/f of retail space. Getz estimates rent for the retail space at $400 per square foot. "We needed a deal with structure, not a conventional bridge loan, and David put together a deal that made sense," said Elli Ausubel, managing director of 351 Canal LLC. NGKF Retail's Neal Golden, Ross Perlman and Ryan Gessin will be spearheading the leasing efforts. The planned repositioning is similar to neighboring responses to the now-robust retail presence not only in Soho, but on Canal Street alone. A partnership including Canada-based Ruby Ventures and Jack Joseph Sitt, purchased a commercial ground lease at 335 Canal Street earlier this month, and Vornado Realty Trust bought 334 Canal Street in 2011. About Eastern Union Funding: Founded in 2001, Eastern Union Funding is one of the country's largest private commercial real estate mortgage brokerage companies serving the national commercial real estate sector. Eastern Union's brokers, acting as trusted advisors, operate on the simple premise of putting the clients' needs first. It has an arsenal of lending sources for financing complex, multi-state, multi-site portfolios as well as loans for smaller, single-property transactions which allow for consistent placement averaging a quarter of a billion in new loans every month. Eastern Union, which operates nationwide, is headquartered in New York, with offices in New Jersey and Maryland. For more information, please visit: http://www.easternuc.com/.