Return to Lender: Week of Feb. 1, 2024

A $1.1-billion CMBS loan collateralized by an office building at 280 Park Ave. in Manhattan has transferred to special servicing, Trepp reported. The borrowers, SL Green Realty and Vornado Realty Trust, are working toward obtaining a modification and extension agreement. The loan transferred to special servicer Wells Fargo Bank in December.

Also in Manhattan, Evercore ISI has downgraded the valuation of Worldwide Plaza, which is 49.9% owned by a joint venture of SL Green and RXR Realty, by $500 million to $1.2 billion. The office tower at the corner of 50th Street and Eighth Avenue is facing the loss of law firm Cravath, Swain & Moore’s headquarters lease and a possible departure by Nomura Securities, also a major tenant at the property.

The loan for TC Energy Center, an office tower at 700 Louisiana St. in Houston known for its red granite façade and its unique stair-step gothic architecture, is in default, the Houston Business Journal reported. The $96-million refinance loan from Starwood Property Trust matured last June and has since been categorized as “matured, non-performing” through multiple payment periods, most recently in January of this year, according to loan servicing notes. However, owner M-M Properties is working on a recapitalization plan, reported the Business Journal.

WeWork filed a motion to keep its leases on four of its coworking spaces, including Watermark Tempe ($121.0MM | BMARK 2021-B28 & BMARK 2021-B29 | CMBX.15) and 71 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan ($25.0MM | CSAIL 2017-C8 | CMBX.11), according to Morningstar, which cited The Business Journals. The tenant is seeking reduced rent at all four locations and plans to give back space at the aforementioned properties, cutting half of its space at The Watermark and scaling back to two floors from four floors at 71 Fifth Ave. As of the motion filing, WeWork had named six leases it plans to keep, after announcing two locations in January. Subsequently, the company announced that it planned to retain two additional leases in New York City.

A three-story premium retail building near the corner of Sutter and Powell streets in Union Square has defaulted on a loan tied to the property and is seeking a buyer, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The building’s owner, Oak Sutter LLC, an affiliate of Oak Investment Funds, defaulted in January on a $600,000 loan from early 2023, still owing upwards of $313,000, according to a default notice obtained via PropertyShark. The loan’s beneficiary — Wilshire Quinn Income Fund LLC, an affiliate of San Diego-based Wilshire Quinn Capital — could choose to foreclose on the property as a result of the default.