NEW YORK – Mesa West Capital has provided Benchmark Real Estate Group, LLC with a $17 million first mortgage loan to facilitate the acquisition and repositioning of a West Village mixed use apartment building.
The loan was secured by 455-457 Hudson, a six-story, 26,400 gross square-foot mixed-use apartment building containing 38 residential units and 2 retail stores. Part of the loan proceeds have been earmarked to allow Benchmark to immediately begin in-unit and base building upgrades to improve the marketability of the building.
Benchmark, which was founded by Aaron Feldman and Jordan Vogel in 2009, is a full service real estate company focused on acquiring and improving multi-family properties in New York City. Over the past 24 months, Benchmark has acquired approximately a dozen properties with an aggregate value of nearly $200 million.
This is Mesa West’s second financing with Benchmark. In December 2012, Mesa West funded a $32 million loan for Benchmark’s acquisition of a 94-unit rental building in the Gramercy Park submarket of Manhattan.
“Benchmark has a proven track record of creating value and driving NOI growth at the properties they own,” said Mesa West’s Russell Frahm who originated the financing. “The sponsor’s efforts will dramatically improve the marketability of the asset and allow the sponsor to push rents in the desirable West Village.”
The financing was brokered by Jon Estreich and Chris Barnett of Estreich & Co. Inc.
About Mesa West Capital, LLC
Los Angeles-based Mesa West Capital (www.mesawestcapital.com) is a privately held portfolio lender with a current capital base of approximately $3.5 billion. Mesa West has an established debt platform that continues to provide flexible and reliable capital for real estate acquisitions, re-financings and re-capitalizations on office, retail, industrial, multifamily and hotels in the United States.
About Benchmark Real Estate Group
Benchmark Real Estate Group, LLC is a full service real estate company focused on acquiring and improving multi-family properties in New York City. Benchmark offers its investors a long-term platform to make direct investments in the New York City real estate market. The firm targets properties in prime locations of Manhattan, utilizing a low leverage strategy to minimize risk, while making strategic acquisitions of solid assets that offer a strong current yield to investors. BMRE Management LLC, Benchmark's in-house property management division improves assets through their hands-on technique, leasing, and construction, resulting in superior management efficiencies.