The Union Labor Life Insurance Company

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 1, 1999

The Union Labor Life Insurance Company announced a total of $349 million in new forward loan commitments, permanent mortgages, and a construction bar involving five projects in New York and New Jersey during the second quarter. The financing was arranged through the company's $1.2 billion Mortgage Separate Account J, known as J FOR JOBS, which stipulates that all construction and renovations be done by unionized contractors and subcontractors.

Three of the projects are part of a $300 million co-investment program with the New York State Common Retirement Fund, with the company and the Fund each funding one-half of the obligation n for commercial mortgages on properties to be built in New York State by unionized contractors and workers. The new forward mortgage loan commitments include $37 million for the Central Islip Shopping Center, a 267,080 square-foot retail center located in Central Islip, NY, part of the New York State Common Retirement Fund co-investment program; $139.9 million for a 33-story mixed-use project containing a 250-space parking garage, 181,350 square feet of retail space and 333 apartment units located between 8th and 9th avenues in Manhattan, also part of the New York State Common Retirement Fund co-investment program; and a $35 million construction loan for an eight-story, to-be-renovated office building, comprising 248,000 square feet of office space with 35,000 square feet of ground-level retail located at 74 Grand Street in the Paulus Hook Historic District of Jersey City, NJ.

Two additional New York City projects received permanent mortgages from Union Labor Life's J FOR JOBS account, with one being part of the New York State Common Retirement Fund co-investment program. The fundings include initial disbursement of $21.7 million towards a $77.25 million construction/ permanent loan for The Impala, an apartment project with three towers, ranging in height from seven to 23 stories containing 185 apartments located on First Avenue between 75th and 76th streets; $60 million permanent mortgage funded for Kips Bay Plaza, a 174,000 square-foot retail building featuring three levels, with a 16-screen theater and tenants that include a drug store, a bookseller and a fitness center, located in the residential area of Midtown South or Kips Bay section of Manhattan. Since it is a New York State Common Retirement Fund co-investment, Union Labor Life funded one-half of the obligation.