More signs are pointing to the reactivation of a stalled construction site at 208 Delancey St., alongside the Williamsburg Bridge.
An investment group, Delancey Bridge Tower, sold the parcel for nearly $30 million last month to New Empire Real Estate Development. Now Commercial Observer reports that Madison Realty Capital is lending the new owners $53.5 million in capital to restart the troubled project.
Before work stopped at 208 Delancey several years ago, crews had put up a four-story steel frame. The new plan calls for partially dismantling that structure and “slightly” redesigning the 12-story, 69-unit residential building. Here’s more from the story:
The lender partially backed New Empire’s purchase of the project in December, contributing $15 million in debt to the nearly $30 million acquisition, to which New Empire also made a significant equity contribution, according to Josh Zegen, a managing principal at MRC. With rights to the site in the bag, New Empire added another $38.5 million to its tab with MRC this week, aiming to begin work at the site within the next six months… “I’m a strong believer in [the Lower East Side] in general because of the price point and the emerging quality of the housing, retail and office space,” Zegen said. “Everything about that neighborhood has the wind to its back: good transit and good amenities.”
According to documents filed with the city’s finance department, New Empire purchased 208 Delancey on Dec. 16 for $29.4 million. The contract was signed by Bentley Shang Zhao, whose family founded the real estate company in 1997. According to its website, New Empire has built many residential projects, mostly in Brooklyn.
A partial stop work order is in place at 208 Delancey St. In 2011, a group of investors from Queens purchased five small parcels for $8.5 million, assembling the development site, which has frontages on both Delancey and Pitt streets.
