Taconic Partners and Nuveen Real Estate have secured US$393 million in construction financing for the redevelopment of 125 West End Avenue into a world-class life science facility in West Side Manhattan. JLL Capital Markets worked on behalf of the borrower to secure a four-year, floating-rate senior loan through funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Inc. and a mezzanine loan through Oaktree Capital Finance. The same JLL team also arranged US$181 million in acquisition and bridge financing for 125 West End and the surrounding campus in the Autumn of 2019. 125 West End Ave. the project involves the conversion of an existing 399,309-square-foot office building into a state-of-the-art, purpose-built research and laboratory complex.
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The existing building’s floor plates are ideal for a life science facility conversion ranging from 37,000 to 53,000 square feet and featuring 15’9″ heights, industrial-grade floor loads, direct loading access on multiple floors, and gated shipping and receiving points. The project benefits from immediate proximity to the West Side life sciences cluster and access to both public transportation and commercial thruways. The location on West 66th St. provides direct access to the Central Park 65th St. traverse. 125 West End Ave. is also a short walk from Lincoln Square and the 1, 2, and 3 subway lines as well as close proximity to the West Side Highway, providing access to the entire Tri-State area.
According to JLL’s recent 2020 Life Sciences Outlook, New York’s demand drivers for this asset class are on par with major US life sciences markets such as Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego. They include a highly-skilled talent pool, proximity to Big Pharma, and world-class academic institutes. New York City and New York State have also committed more than US$1 billion to facilitate the growth of the life science industry and the city ranks second in NIH funding over the past five years, only behind Boston / Cambridge.
