Kennedy Funding Financial LLC has arranged a $3.2 million loan backed by a $15 million Manhattan penthouse.
Gregg Wolfer, COO of the Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based direct private lender, said the funding was obtained by Franklin Place New York, LLC, a two-year, interest-only loan that carries a starting interest rate of eight percent.
The loan marks a change in the borrower pool noted by Kennedy Funding.

“While in the past, the typical borrower might have involved distressed property in one form or another, the new type of borrower we’re seeing has substantial resources and wealth,” said Wolfer.
“It’s very exciting — well-resourced people who know that they can count on us for short-term financing. It’s this type of loan — and borrower — for which we’re able to offer this kind of competitive interest rate.”
In this transaction, “the loan was utilized to refinance an existing loan and to provide working capital,” said Wolfer. “With an eight percent rate, quick closing and no prepayment penalty, the terms were very appealing to the borrower.”
The collateral is a first lien on a four-bedroom, 4.5-bath penthouse unit within the Grand Millennium Condominium building at 1965 Broadway. The unit consists of 3,364 s/f of living space and 197 s/f of outdoor space.
The Grand Millennium is a 32-story, 205-unit, full-service condominium building, with nine commercial units, in the Lincoln Square area of Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Neighborhood boundaries are West 110 and West 59th streets, the Hudson River, and Central Park.