Public descriptions of the 675 Third Avenue conversion have put its apartment count at roughly 430, 450 or 464. The project is moving ahead with a $231 million construction loan for the 32-story office tower spanning the block of Third Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets, near Grand Central Terminal. Northwind Group announced the first-mortgage financing Monday for the joint venture between Nathan Berman's Metro Loft Management and David Werner Real Estate Investments.
Financing for Work Already Underway
According to PR Newswire, Northwind originated the $231 million first-mortgage construction loan for the 32-story, 337,000-square-foot office building in Midtown East. The financing will refinance existing acquisition debt and fund the build-out, which had already begun, according to Commercial Observer, which first reported the deal. The sponsorship had begun construction with equity financing; no broker was listed.
Northwind says the conversion will create up to 450 rental apartments, with 25 percent designated as affordable housing under the state's 467-m program. That estimate differs from an approximately 430-unit plan described in a 2025 Metro Loft press release and from a February 2026 Crain's New York Business report citing filed plans for 464 units. The available record does not explain the difference. The reported building area also varies: the 2026 loan announcement gives 337,000 square feet, while Multi-Housing News describes the property as 342,000 square feet.
The Conversion's Scope
The project is described as an interior fit-out that requires no structural work, rather than a conversion involving additions to the existing structure. Commercial Observer's report describes the work in those terms. The joint venture acquired the building from the Durst Organization in April 2025 for $100 million, with a $90 million acquisition loan from Northwind.
A Nearby Conversion's Structural Incident
On July 7, collapsing columns and falling bricks inside the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street and the neighboring 219 East 42nd Street led to evacuations in nearby buildings and street closures, Commercial Observer reported. The project is being converted into a roughly 1,600-unit apartment building, with floors added to the existing structure. The New York Times reported that the incident brought heightened scrutiny to office-to-residential conversions.
In comments to Commercial Observer, Northwind chief executive Ran Eliasaf said he took “no pause” before extending development capital for 675 Third Avenue. He characterized the July incident as a construction mishap and said he was not concerned it would recur at this project.
Part of a Broader Office-to-Housing Wave
The financing is part of a broader effort to turn aging office stock into housing. As of April, Manhattan had 906 office buildings totaling roughly 100.2 million square feet classified as prime candidates for conversion, with another 559 properties facing potential obstacles, according to Multi-Housing News. A 2025 Metro Loft release also pointed to newly announced Midtown conversion projects, including proposals at 140 West 57th Street and 1730 Broadway.
The financial stakes of that citywide shift are considerable. A New York City Comptroller's report estimated that the pipeline of potential Manhattan projects south of 59th Street eligible for 467-m tax benefits could carry a cost of $5.1 billion in present value. Under the program's affordability rules, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development requires that at least 25 percent of dwelling units in a qualifying conversion be designated as affordable housing units, with at least 5 percent further designated at a deeper affordability tier.
What 467-m Affordability Means for Renters
According to HPD's 467-m FAQ, affordable-unit income tiers must average no more than 80 percent of area median income (AMI); there can be no more than three tiers, none above 100 percent of AMI, and at least 5 percent of affordable units must be restricted to households at or below 40 percent of AMI. HPD's rules define an affordable unit's legal rent as the maximum permitted under rent stabilization and say rent-stabilization exemptions do not apply during the restriction period.
