Northwood scores $237M loan to buy HNA’s 1180 Sixth

Royal Bank of Canada financed the deal for Midtown office building

1180 Sixth Avenue, RBC's Dave McKay and Northwood's John Kukral
1180 Sixth Avenue, RBC's Dave McKay and Northwood's John Kukral

To close its purchase of 1180 Sixth Avenue, Northwood Investors obtained a $236.6 million loan from the Royal Bank of Canada, sources told The Real Deal.

Northwood, a real estate investment firm led by John Kukral, closed Thursday on the $305 million purchase of an HNA Group subsidiary and MHP Real Estate Services’ 22-story Midtown office property, as TRD first reported.

The financing is a floating-rate loan and represents roughly 78 percent of the purchase price, sources said. An undisclosed portion of the loan is being set aside for future funding, potentially for a redevelopment of the property down the road. Sources said Northwood doesn’t have immediate plans for a redevelopment.

The property is anchored by Scripps Networks Interactive, which has a lease for 126,000 through mid-2021. Scripps meanwhile has been searching for a new headquarters in the city.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Newmark Knight Frank’s Jordan Roeschlaub and Dustin Stolly, who brokered the financing, declined to comment.

HNA recently embarked on a fire sale of its $16 billion worth of global assets and this month also sold a $90 million commercially-zoned townhouse on the Upper East Side.

The Chinese conglomerate is also looking to sell 850 Third Avenue with MHP and 245 Park Avenue, which it just bought for $2.21 billion last year.