NEW YORK—Paramount Leasehold LP has received $130 million in new financing for The Paramount Building, an office building located at 1501 Broadway in Times Square. Meridian Capital Group LLC arranged the financing on behalf of the ownership, and was able to secure a 10-year, full-term interest-only loan.
Meridian Senior Vice President Keith Kurland and Managing Director Aaron Appel, both based in Meridian’s New York City headquarters, originated and negotiated the transaction. Cantor Commercial Real Estate provided the financing, which the ownership will use to make improvements to the property.
“The sponsor sought a flexible, long-term, fixed-rate financing solution to provide the necessary capital to reposition this landmark asset. Through a tightly managed marketing and negotiation process, we were not only able to achieve their objectives in this regard, but also procured the lowest spread and fixed-rate on a deal of this magnitude post-Lehman,” says Kurland.
The ownership plans to invest more than $50 million in improvements at the 33-story, 788,000-sq.-ft. property. Planned enhancements include lobby renovations, updates to common areas and bathrooms, upgraded elevator systems and new windows.
The property, originally constructed in 1926 as the East Coast headquarters for Paramount Pictures, was last renovated in 2006.