Ullico Drops a Pretty Penny in Loans for New York Projects

Four New York City commercial real estate projects – two mixed-use properties, an office building and a new animal cargo terminal at JFK International Airport – are getting a total of $250.7 million in financing from Ullico, Inc.

The loans were financed by The Union Labor Life Insurance Co. on behalf of its Separate Account J, according to a release from the Washington, D.C.-based labor-owned insurance and investment company.

“New York is a dynamic city that provides excellent investment opportunities for Ullico,” Herbert Kolben, senior vice president of Union Labor Life’s Real Estate Investment Group, which provides lending and loan servicing for CRE projects, said in a news release. “We are pleased to be providing the lending for these projects in New York City.”

A condition of the group’s financing is that all the construction must be done with union labor. Other lenders are providing additional finance for the projects.

 “Valuing the union workplace is Ullico’s core mission. Projects like these put union members to work and union contractors to work,” Edward Smith, Ullico Inc. president & CEO, said in the release.

The largest loan is $100 million as part of a $479 million senior letter of credit facility for the construction of Manhattan West Residential, a 61-story, 80/20 residential building with 833 apartments, 3,500 square feet of retail and an 85-space parking garage at 405 W. 31^st St. in Manhattan.

The second is $75 million in a $500 million loan for the construction of One West End Ave., a 43-story building in Manhattan with 247 luxury condo units, 116 affordable rental units, medical offices and retail space.

The company is lending $50 million as part of a $500 million financing package for the acquisition of and capital improvements at Five Manhattan West, a 16-story, Class A, multi-tenant office property with 1.8 million square feet of rentable space at 450 West 33^rd St. in Manhattan.

The final loan is $27.5 million toward the development of an animal cargo terminal at Cargo Building 78 at JFK International Airport. The $48 million ARK at JFK is being built by Racebrook Capital and will be the only privately owned animal handling cargo terminal under a 30-year-lease signed recently with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Separate Account J, known as J for Jobs, is managed by The Union Labor Life Insurance Co. and sold through Ullico Investment Co. Since it began in 1977, it has participated in funding more than 430 CRE projects totaling more than $12.5 billion. In August, Ullico participated in financing a $539 million construction loan for The Moinian Group’s development of 605 West 42^nd St., a luxury residential tower in Manhattan.

Source: Commercial Property Executive