JLL arranges $316m construction loan for industrial project in Queens

JLL arranges $316m construction loan for industrial project in Queens
Grand Logistics Center Image: Courtesy of JLL

JLL has arranged a $316 million construction loan for the development of Grand Logistics Center, a 1.1-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art, multi-story distribution facility in the Queens community of Maspeth, New York, and secured the lease for the investment-grade e-commerce tenant.

Situated at 55-15 Grand Ave., Grand Logistics Center is positioned at the crossroads of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and Long Island Expressway. The building’s location provides access to Manhattan and the outer borough markets, making the tenant’s last-mile delivery strategy to service the 7.9 million residents within the New York City metropolitan area possible.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, a partnership between LBA Logistics and RXR Realty, to place the loan. The anticipated project completion date is December 2022.

“With most of the major banks hitting pause during the pandemic, the construction loan market became challenging, but we were highly confident in the merits of the project despite the environment,” said Mike Maturo, President of RXR Realty. “We were fortunate to identify a lead bank and have multiple participants to fill out the syndication on a large loan with optimal terms in this market.


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“The attention to the opportunity is an indication of the strength of the site, and the RXR/LBA sponsorship as well as the quality of the tenant,” he added. “It is a testament that the best-of-the-best projects are still achieving attractive capitalization structures.”

“After exploring multiple capitalization structures with alternative financing sources, we were pleased with the outcome of obtaining a traditional construction loan of this size in an efficient process,” said Tom Rutherford, LBA’s Principal of Finance.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Executive Managing Directors Kevin MacKenzie and Mike Tepedino and Managing Director Brian Torp.

The JLL Agency Leasing team that secured the lease for the ownership was led by Vice Chairman Robert Kossar and Executive Managing Director Leslie Lanne.