Investment firm First Spring Corporation has renewed its lease for its 26th-floor office at 499 Park Avenue, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The firm will continue to rent 11,591 square feet in the 28-story building, located on 59th Street at Park Avenue.

Jonathan Serko, Barry Zeller, and David Malawer, all of Cushman & Wakefield, represented First Spring Corporation in the deal.

Tara Stacom, David E. Green and David Rosenbloom, also of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the building's ownership, listed as Hines 499 Park LLC and the Houston-based Hines Interests on CoStar.

“First Spring Corporation is a long-standing tenant in the building and was very satisfied with renewing its lease and remaining at 499 Park Avenue, which has spectacular views of Midtown and Central Park,”

said Mr. Serko, in a prepared statement sent to The Commercial Observer. Cushman & Wakefield would not comment on the length of the new lease, the asking rent in the building, or if First Spring's space will be renovated.

The 28th floor of 499 Park Avenue features 17-foot high windows with views of the George Washington Bridge and surrounding territories.

Asking rents were at least $150 a square foot, according to a December 2011 New York Times article on the building.

The ceiling heights were created when former developer George Klein sold and left the office tower, and the new owners knocked out the "dropped ceiling." Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the 6,732-square-foot space to boutique investment firms.

First Spring was founded in 1985 and has been a long-standing tenant in the building.

Daniel Edward Rosen is reachable at Drosen@observer.com

Eastern Union Commercial has arranged $34 million in refinanced loans for a portfolio of skilled nursing facilities located in southern New Jersey and an unnamed New York City borough. Meanwhile, the commercial mortgage brokerage reported that its loans closed during the first quarter of 2012 had increased by 110 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Financing for the nursing facilities was provided by M&T Bank and was negotiated by Abe Bergman, a managing partner at Eastern Union. It was tricky, Mr. Bergman told The Commercial Observer, due to the properties being in different stages of construction and initial loans that were coming due at different times.

“There was one loan that was coming due that had an out-of-state bank as the lender on it,” he said, referencing the loan on the facility in the boroughs, which had a due date of December 31, 2011. “But that particular property wouldn’t have appraised for what it initially appraised for when we did the original loan. It was a little bit of a challenge to get enough financing on it.”

Eastern Union negotiated a three month extension on that loan, giving it the opportunity to refinance the portfolio as a whole.

Of the four properties, three are currently up-and-running, while the fourth is now under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.

“Three of the facilities were swapped,” Mr. Bergman said of the various rates. “Out of the three facilities that were swapped, two of them are 20-year amortizations and one of them is a 25-year amortization and the construction loan—that’s a floating rate mortgage until the construction gets completed.”

Propelled by this loan and other activity over the first quarter of 2012, the firm saw a 110 percent increase in the loans it closed, compared to the first quarter of 2011. Asked if any particular type of loan caused this uptick, Mr. Bergman said not really. “The one area there has been more of an increase is in retail nationally,” he said, “really because Wall Street is trying to lend again.”

Ira Zlotowitz, president of Eastern Union, also referenced an increase in Wall Street lending in a prepared statement about the firm’s Q1 2012 volume. “While Eastern Union enjoys excellent relationships with key banks nationwide, we have also begun closing numerous deals with Wall Street lenders offering commercial real estate loans,” he said. He added that these loans are “often priced lower than those offered by standard commercial banks.”

The firm said that it is currently placing $150 million each month in new commercial loans—many of them through Wall Street lenders.

Carl Gaines is reachable at Cgaines@observer.com