JPMorgan Chase

A fresh eight-figure estimate on the bank's own tower is a bet the Loop can't ignore.

The owner bought the landmarked office building in December 2021. Its new loan paperwork is now 1.7 times that price.

Chase's $175M loan on the 355 Lexington conversion hit ACRIS as two mortgages, $139.2M and $35.8M, on a lot whose last loan was $7.6M.

Gary Barnett's firm has spent months stitching together five Manhattan lots one deed at a time. The recorded loan is the first hard number on what it is now backing.

Developers read DOB stated cost as a proxy for project size. At 355 Lexington Avenue the loan is 4.8 times the number on the permit, which means the proxy does not work.

Two documents recorded the same minute make the arithmetic exact: $285.8M of old debt, $9.2M of new.

The bank is adding lending capacity, not subsidy, to the affordable stack. Developers and builders should read the fine print before they price it in.

Trophy-hotel debt is thawing for well-capitalized sponsors, and a lender is willing to underwrite Brickell room rates again.