Birnbaum and Savariego of Meridian Capital finance $27.5 million; On behalf of the Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity

Meridian Capital Group, one of America's most active debt brokers, negotiated a $27.5 million bridge loan for the development site at 77 Commercial St. on behalf of the Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity. The two-year loan, provided by a regional balance sheet lender, features a fixed-rate and interest-only payments for the full term. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian Capital Group executive vice president, Aaron Birnbaum, and vice president, Tal Savariego, who are both based in the company's New York City headquarters. The site, located at 77 Commercial St. on the Greenpoint waterfront, will be a transformative project for the neighborhood totaling 720 residential units and 750,000 s/f once completed. "The borrower acquired the waterfront site in 2012 and recently finalized a development agreement to acquire additional air rights from New York City Housing Preservation and Development," said Savariego. "Meridian arranged a competitive balance sheet land loan to provide the borrower funds for the air rights purchase and additional time to finalize plans and arrange construction financing for the project," he added.