Ran Eliasaf's Northwind Group provided $231 million in construction financing to David Werner Real Estate and Nathan Berman's MetroLoft to convert an office building at 675 Third Avenue into a 450-unit residential multifamily property in Midtown Manhattan, Commercial Observer reported. The transaction closed without a broker listed.
The new financing will refinance existing acquisition debt on the asset and fund an interior build-out that has already started. Northwind previously issued a $90 million acquisition loan to the sponsors, who acquired the property from the Durst Organization in April 2025 for $100 million.
What happened
The Midtown Manhattan building spans the full block of Third Avenue from 42nd Street to 43rd Street near Grand Central Terminal. Northwind leadership noted that the scope requires an interior fit-out without structural work. Construction on the asset had started with equity before Northwind provided the debt package.
Under the 467-m program, 25 percent of the rental units in the building will be designated as affordable housing. The conversion follows a separate project by MetroLoft and David Werner Real Estate at the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street and 219 East 42nd Street. That 1,600-unit conversion involves adding 11 floors to the existing structure, where shifting columns and falling bricks caused building evacuations and street closures in early July before workers stabilized the site the following morning. Eliasaf told Commercial Observer that the Pfizer incident did not cause hesitation in extending development capital for 675 Third Avenue.
What it changes for a closing
For closing teams working on New York office conversions, the transaction demonstrates how debt packages transition from acquisition to construction under an incumbent lender. Because Northwind held the prior $90 million acquisition note, closing counsel could restructure the existing debt directly into the larger $231 million construction facility rather than managing a lender payoff and note assignment to a third party.
The transaction also highlights the closing documentation required around statutory housing programs. Incorporating the 467-m program requires title and closing lawyers to coordinate regulatory agreements ensuring 25 percent of the 450 units satisfy affordability covenants. Lenders and their counsel must also verify that loan draw mechanics account for equity already deployed into the interior fit-out prior to closing.