Vanbarton Group landed a $280 million loan to refinance a Sixth Avenue tower where the developer recently converted several former WeWork office floors into apartments.
Richard Coles and Gary Tischler’s company secured the loan on the 455-unit building at 980 Sixth Avenue from Invesco, sources told The Real Deal.
Vanbarton bought the 25-story building for $316 million in 2018. At the time, the tower had 320 apartments sitting on top of three floors of office space, which was then leased to WeWork.
But when the co-working company went bankrupt in 2023, the 980 Sixth Avenue location was among some 70 work centers it shuttered. Shortly after, Vanbarton decided to convert WeWork’s three floors into more than 100 apartments.Â
With the conversion now complete, Vanbarton sought out new permanent financing with a five-year term. The new loan replaces a $273 million one from Blackstone’s mortgage trust.
Representatives for Vanbarton Group and Invesco could not be immediately reached for comment.
Vanbarton is one of the most active office-to-residential converters in the city, with a current pipeline exceeding 2,000 units.
The developer last month secured a $300 million loan from Brookfield to finance its acquisition and conversion of the former Emigrants Savings Bank building at 6 East 43rd Street. Vanbarton purchased the 400,000-square-foot building for $135 million earlier this year and plans to convert it into 441 rental apartments.
Coles and Tischler also recently purchased the home of the Archdiocese of New York at 1011 First Avenue, which they plan to convert into 420 apartments. Last year, they bought 77 Water Street in the Financial District for $95 million, which will be transformed into 647 units.
Earlier this month Vanbarton refinanced Pearl House, the 1970s-era FiDi office building it converted into 477 apartments, with $280 million in debt from AllianceBernstein and Brookfield.
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