

Deutsche Bank has provided a $45m loan to New York-based Madison Realty Capital (MRC) for the acquisition of the Brooklyn Whale Building in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Real Estate Capital has learned.
MRC acquired the property for $82.5m from Harry Skydell, a New York-based real estate investor.
The seven-story, 400,000 sq ft industrial property, at 14 53rd Street in Sunset Park, is being converted into a creative office space that caters towards mid-size technology, media, and creative uses.
Previous ownership initiated a capital expenditure program, but MRC plans to add substantially to the renovation with $8m of capital. The firm is likely to upgrade the building’s exterior, electrical systems and convert storage space into offices and may also add a roof deck space looking over the New York Harbor, according to the reports.
The property, earlier known as the Whale Oil building, is situated a mile away from Industry City, a massive 6m sq ft 16-building industry complex, which includes: the two-building, 4m sq ft Brooklyn Army Terminal campus, which has multiple biotechnology, fashion and financial services companies for tenants; and the eight-story, 1.2m sq ft Liberty View Industrial Plaza.
In March of this year, MRC acquired 29 Ryerson, a vacant warehouse loft property for $45m to develop it into an office space in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill area. MRC, founded in 2004, invests in middle market real estate equity and debt.  The firm has invested in about $3.5b of transactions in the multifamily, retail, office, industrial and hotel sectors.