Ares Management has signed on for a hefty $450 million loan to refinance The Riverie, the new two-tower, all-electric rental complex taking shape on the Greenpoint waterfront. The financing arrives just as the 834-unit property starts leasing and unveils Riverie Park, a fresh slice of open space along the East River.
According to Commercial Observer, Ares provided the refinancing to a joint venture between Lendlease and Aware Super. CBRE arranged the deal, with a team led by Tom Traynor, Tom Rugg, Peter Griesinger and Arman Samouk. Traynor called The Riverie “a truly exceptional project in a premier location,” the outlet reports.
Green Design And Geothermal Scale
In a press release via Lendlease, the developer said The Riverie runs on a vertical closed-loop geoexchange system built on roughly 320 boreholes beneath the site. That setup makes it one of the largest geothermal systems serving a high-rise residential building in New York State, according to the company. Lendlease said the all-electric design, combined with the geoexchange system, is expected to cut heating-and-cooling carbon emissions by more than half compared with a conventional building and will provide heat for amenities that include a rooftop pool.
Scale, Amenities And Neighborhood Links
The Riverie fills an entire block at 1 Java Street and brings 834 rental units, about 13,000 square feet of retail space and an 18,000-square-foot public esplanade, according to CityRealty. Roughly 30 percent of the apartments are set aside as affordable housing. The complex connects directly to the India Street ferry terminal and piles on resident perks that include coworking suites, a podcast studio and a speakeasy-style lounge.
What The Refinance Signals
The deal, reported by Commercial Observer, is being read as a sign that institutional investors still want in on well-located, climate-focused rental buildings in New York. “Even in a changing market, there is deep conviction for high-quality New York real estate backed by institutional sponsors,” CBRE’s Traynor said, casting the loan as a vote of confidence in assets that are already showing strong leasing traction.
Policy Backdrop: Electrification And Emissions Caps
The Riverie’s geothermal system is arriving in the middle of New York City’s push for cleaner building systems, including rules that favor electrification and tighter emissions limits. The Urban Green Council offers a plain-language overview of Local Law 154, which sets the city’s policy for all-electric new construction, while the NYC Department of Buildings explains how Local Law 97 caps greenhouse-gas emissions for covered buildings. For owners and developers, large-scale heat-pump and geoexchange systems are one route to complying with those rules while also aiming to trim long-term operating costs.
Lendlease said it welcomed the first residents on January 21, and that leasing activity has remained strong as Riverie Park opens to the neighborhood. The Ares loan gives the Lendlease-Aware Super joint venture fresh liquidity while it works to turn the newly built project into a fully leased waterfront community.
