D
avid Werner's purchase of 300 E. 42nd St., a 235,000 square-foot office and retail building, has closed for $52 million, significantly less than its last sale price in 2019. Werner plans to flip most of the property into a partial residential conversion while retaining the valuable 7,300 square feet of retail space.

    A $45 million pre-development acquisition loan from Northwind Group's Ran Eliasaf will fund the project. The construction loan is expected to follow within nine months to a year. Northwind has been an active lender in the development scene, including providing a $313 million construction loan for the revival of 125 Greenwich St.

    The plan at 300 E. 42nd St. involves converting over 93,000 vacant square feet into 135 rental apartments, with about 90,000 square feet on higher floors remaining as offices. The project will likely qualify for tax abatement under the state's 467-m program, which requires 20% of units to be affordable. Eliasaf notes that delivering new free-market supply in Midtown is attractive.

    Werner's purchase stands diagonally across from two former Pfizer buildings being converted into 1,600 rental apartments, a project he partners on with Nathan Berman's MetroLoft.