New York firm gets $28M loan to buy two-thirds of a condo complex

Berkadia has arranged a $27.69 million loan for a New York developer to buy 161 units of a 248-unit condominium community.

The fractured condo deal was for units at Harbourtowne at Country Woods in Palm Harbor. A spokesperson for Berkadia says the remaining units are individually owned.

The borrower is the New York multifamily real estate developer ESG Kullen.

ESG is a familiar face in the region with 13 properties in the state including one in Fort Myers and six in Tampa Bay, according to its website. Along with the properties in Florida, it owns 7,000 multifamily units in New York, Illinois, Texas and California along with five parking garages, totaling 1,000 spaces, in New York City.

Just last year it bought the waterfront Harborside Suites at Little Harbor in Ruskin and announced it would transform the hotel into apartments.

As for whether ESG plans will try to buy the remaining units, that’s still unclear. But in Berkadia’s statement announcing the financing it says the five-year loan from an unnamed regional bank included “three years of interest only and future funding for additional unit purchases and CapEx renovations.”

Harbourtowne, at 1697 Nantucket Court, is made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging from 675 square feet to 1,300 square feet.

Berkadia is a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group. Its commercial mortgage loan banking and servicing are done through Berkadia Commercial Mortgage.