{"id":201672,"date":"2026-04-18T11:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T11:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201672\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T11:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T11:33:19","slug":"csc-real-estate-secures-108m-construction-loan-for-conversion-at-770-second-avenue-commercial-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201672\/","title":{"rendered":"CSC Real Estate Secures $108M Construction Loan for Conversion at 770 Second Avenue \u2013 Commercial Observer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Office-to-residential conversion mania<\/a> still has a firm hold on Manhattan.<\/p>\n

CSC Real Estate<\/a>, a New York-based investment firm specializing in redevelopment and conversions, has secured a $108 million construction loan for an office-to-residential conversion at 770 Second Avenue in Manhattan\u2019s Murray Hill neighborhood, Commercial Observer has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: SoCal Industrial Veteran Benjamin Miller Launches IOS Firm<\/a><\/p>\n

The financing was provided by SCALE Lending<\/a>, the joint lending company of Slate Property Group<\/a>.\u00a0The deal was arranged by Morris Betesh, Morris Dabbah and Louis Halperin from Arrow Real Estate Advisors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis transaction reflects continued lender appetite for well-located conversion opportunities in New York City,\u201d Betesh, Arrow\u2019s founder, said in a statement. \u201cCSC has demonstrated a strong ability to execute on complex repositionings, and 770 Second Avenue is well positioned to meet the growing demand for high-quality rental housing in Murray Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

CSC Real Estate acquired 770 Second Avenue<\/a> \u2014 which has an alternative address of 300 East 42nd Street \u2014 for $52 million in April 2025 from David Werner, only two months after Werner had acquired the property (for the same price) from the lender, Fortress Investment Group<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The property is being converted under New York\u2019s 467m program, which provides tax exemptions of up to 35 years when converting nonresidential buildings into rental housing with affordable units.<\/p>\n

The project will convert 12 floors of the 18-story property into 140 residential units, 35 of which will be designated as affordable. The building will also feature 11,000 square feet of new amenity space, with construction expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project exemplifies CSC\u2019s ability to transform underutilized assets into long-term value,\u201d said Alberto Smeke, a principal of CSC Real Estate who runs the company alongside his brother Salo Smeke. \u201cDemand from institutional lenders and investors remains strong, and CSC is well positioned to continue scaling into larger and more sophisticated opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

News of the construction financing for the conversion comes as property records made public Thursday show<\/a> a $22 million sale of an office condo unit within the building, which will likely continue to be used for such purposes. CSC, using the entity 300 East Holdings, sold the office unit \u2014 labeled No. 2 \u2014 to an LLC tied to independent investor Moses Mizrahi, who used the entity 300 E 42 U2, records show. A spokesperson for CSC could not provide additional details on the sale or say whether it was related to CSC\u2019s redevelopment of the property. Mizrahi could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team is proud to advance the repositioning of 770 Second Avenue and deliver high-quality housing to New York City,\u201d Salo Smeke, a principal of CSC, said in a statement. \u201cInstitutional partners rely on CSC because we manage the most challenging projects with precision and accountability. The depth of capital interest we continue to see reflects the confidence the market places in our platform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Office-to-residential conversion mania still has a firm hold on Manhattan. CSC Real Estate, a New York-based investment firm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[79957,79958,79959,36818,13797,10911,2184,1603,2664,79960,75,84,83,21371,79961,9,24,63,79962],"class_list":{"0":"post-201672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-300-east-42nd-street","9":"tag-770-second-avenue","10":"tag-alberto-smeke","11":"tag-construction-financing","12":"tag-conversion","13":"tag-david-werner","14":"tag-development","15":"tag-finance","16":"tag-investments-sales","17":"tag-louis-halperin","18":"tag-manhattan","19":"tag-manhattan-headlines","20":"tag-manhattan-news","21":"tag-morris-betesh","22":"tag-morris-dabbah","23":"tag-new-york","24":"tag-new-york-city","25":"tag-nyc","26":"tag-salo-smeke-channel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}