Metlife refinances Apple Store building in Meatpacking District

MetLife has provided an $89 million loan to Taconic Investment Partners to refinance an Apple Store-anchored low-rise building at 401 West 14th Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.

The 15-year, interest-only, fixed-rate loan takes out a previous $87.9 million refinance loan that a Helaba affiliate provided in May of 2012.

The four-story property is located at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and 14th Street at the entry to the Meatpacking District.

Taconic purchased the 60,000 sq ft mixed-use retail and office building in December of 2005 for $34.55 million from an entity affiliated with the Plymouth Beef Company, a remnant of a neighborhood that housed meatpacking as a major activity through the 1970s until the dramatic retail transformation that unfolded decades later.

Taconic repositioned the property with a design team that included Cook + Fox Architects, replacing all building systems, constructing a new lobby and building core, replacing windows and storefronts and obtaining approvals from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to build a penthouse addition.

The property is fully leased to the Apple Store, marked by a three-story, distinctive curved glass internal staircase, Hugo Boss and The Kooples. Apple and Raptor Capital Management lease the office space.

The building’s penthouse contains three terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the Meatpacking District, which today is dense with offices, restaurants, nightlife, retail, hotels and cultural attractions including the High Line park and the new Whitney Museum.  HFF arranged the financing.