Northwind Group Provides a $208 Million Construction Loan for the Office-to-Residential Conversion of 141 Willoughby Street, a 355K SF Class A Tower in Downtown Brooklyn

NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwind Group, a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager, today announced the origination of a $208 million first mortgage construction loan for 141 Willoughby Street, a 24-story, 355,000-square-foot Class A tower in Downtown Brooklyn. Loan proceeds retired the existing debt on the Property and will fund its partial conversion into 239 rental apartments across floors 8 through 23 and the commercial lease-up on floors 1-7, which has multiple private entrances and has been rebranded as 385 Gold.

The conversion is being led by a joint venture between Capstone Equities and BH3 Fund Advisors (collectively, the "Sponsor"), which took control of the Property in 2025 and has spent the past year in predevelopment. Originally delivered in 2023, the tower was built to full Class A institutional specification but was never occupied, allowing the Sponsor to pursue the conversion without the tenant buyouts, deferred maintenance, or any structural work typically associated with office-to-residential projects.

The Property's side-core configuration and nearly column-free floorplates roughly 30 feet deep, wrapped in four-sided floor-to-ceiling glazing, allow the building to convert efficiently. Slab-to-slab heights of 15 to 17 feet will yield finished ceilings well above what conventional new multifamily construction delivers. Residents will have access to an amenity package across the cellar and second floor that includes a fitness center, entertainment lounge, co-working space, wellness center, golf simulator, sports court, games room, and children's playroom, along with landscaped terraces on the 10th and 20th floors and a full-time attended lobby. The commercial component will operate with its own separate entrances and dedicated elevator bank, with no shared circulation between residential and commercial tenants.

The Sponsor has assembled an experienced project team to execute the conversion. The development team includes a construction manager that has converted more than 43 commercial buildings totaling over 14 million square feet into more than 14,500 apartments since 1997. Fogarty Finger, the original design architect for the tower, has been re-engaged as executive architect for the residential conversion. Newmark has been retained to market the commercial space.

"141 Willoughby is an exceptional asset in a market where demand for high-quality apartments is strong. The building was designed to an institutional standard, with ceiling heights, natural light, floor plates, and amenities that will translate extremely well to residential use. The commercial component is incredible in its quality and efficiency. With the NYC office market having materially recovered, 385 Gold is seeing significant demand from large users native to Brooklyn as well as Manhattan tenants dealing with escalating occupancy costs for Class A space," said Adam Falk of BH3 Fund Advisors on behalf of the joint venture.

"The opportunity to reimagine a building the caliber of 141 Willoughby into a thriving mixed-use asset represents a truly unique opportunity in the market today. We believe this asset will deliver the highest quality residential and commercial product available in the market and we are excited to deliver into a quickly evolving and growing Downtown Brooklyn community. We are thrilled to partner with our friends at Northwind on this transaction," said Avi Kollenscher, Partner at Capstone Equities.

141 Willoughby Street sits one block east of the Fulton Street retail corridor and two blocks from the MetroTech campus, with thirteen subway lines accessible across three stations within an approximately six-minute walk. The building will deliver into a Downtown Brooklyn residential market having absorbed a record wave of new supply over the past several years, with the forward delivery pipeline set to decline materially. The commercial offering is positioned to serve the district's dense education, healthcare, and government tenant base.

The loan was originated through Northwind Group's discretionary debt fund platform as part of the firm's ongoing strategy of providing financing for well-located, institutional-quality office-to-residential conversions across New York City and other supply constrained markets.

Ran Eliasaf, Founder and Managing Partner of Northwind Group, commented, "141 Willoughby Street is a rare conversion opportunity, a brand-new, institutionally built tower, which allows the Sponsor to execute a streamlined, largely interior scope of work without the tenancy and structural risks that typically accompany office-to-residential projects. Combined with Capstone and BH3's experience and a highly regarded project team, we are confident in the Sponsor's ability to deliver this conversion, and we are pleased to support them in the continued transformation of Downtown Brooklyn into one of the city's most dynamic residential submarkets."

The financing was arranged by Rob Turner and Ethan Pond of Eastdil Secured Savills. Northwind was represented by John Vavas of Polsinelli Group and the Sponsor was represented by Elizabeth Smith of Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP.

About Northwind Group

Founded in 2008 by Ran Eliasaf, Northwind Group is a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager specializing in credit investments through its discretionary, closed-ended debt funds. The firm has successfully executed over $11 billion in real estate transactions in the U.S. across more than 400 real estate and healthcare properties in 28 states. For further information, go to www.northwind-group.com.

About Capstone Equities

Capstone Equities is a New York City-based real estate private equity and investment firm founded in 2006. The firm specializes in opportunistic property acquisitions, distressed assets, and non-performing loans across major domestic US markets, as well as throughout Europe.  Capstone Equities is owned and managed by Joshua Zamir and Avi Kollenscher, who combined have over 40 years of experience in the real estate sector and a track record of placing over $200 million of equity and purchasing over $1.5 billion of real estate assets over the last 5 years.  Since inception Capstone has executed on over $2 billion of transactions across 5M+ SF of office, 3,000+ hotel keys, and 300k+SF of industrial warehouses, with a focus on non-performing loans in the US and Western Europe. Additionally, the principals of Capstone have made substantial investments in real estate operating companies including Promotions Habitat, Rebel Hospitality, Portal Warehousing and Acre Solutions.

About BH3 Fund Advisors:

BH3 Fund Advisors was launched in 2018 as the investment advisory affiliate of BH3 Management, a real estate investment and development firm founded in 2009. Together, BH3 Management and BH3 Fund Advisors (collectively, "BH3") operate a vertically integrated real estate investment, operations, and development firm, led by co-founders Daniel Lebensohn and Gregory Freedman, and Executive Chairman Eric Edidin, along with 27 additional professionals between its offices in South Florida, New York City, and Denver.

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SOURCE Northwind Group