Drew Capital arranges $70M nonrecourse refi for Newark tower

Drew Capital has arranged a $70 million nonrecourse, interest-only loan on Cosmo 440, the 25-story, 216-unit multifamily tower at 440 Elizabeth Ave. in Newark that was built in 1969 and fully gut-renovated into a class A multifamily community, IREI reported. The financing closed Aug. 28, with Dwight Mortgage Trust, a New York-based real estate finance and investment firm, providing the funds to the borrower, 440 Elizabeth NJ Urban Renewal, sponsored by Yisroel Berger.

The Jackson, N.J.-based finance firm has been on the asset since construction, first arranging the gut-renovation financing, then a lease-up loan, and now the stabilized refi. Its founder and principal, Akiva Drew, frames that as full-cycle underwriting: "Cosmo 440 is a good example of what we mean by understanding the full cycle of a real estate transaction," he said, pointing to the firm's work alongside ownership from construction through lease-up into the next financing stage.

The nonrecourse, interest-only structure means Dwight is underwriting the tower's stabilized cash flow rather than a sponsor's balance sheet — the patient-capital approach this publication has argued the refinancing wall demands, with lenders resolving maturing debt by pricing current income instead of forcing a distressed sale. The gut renovation is the kind of upgrade that separates Newark's two-tier multifamily market, where renovated cash flow commands a premium over vintage assets.

The property's 216 residences split among 48 one-bedroom, 120 two-bedroom and 48 three-bedroom units, including 190 market-rate and 26 affordable units. That structure leaves Dwight's recovery tied to the property alone, with no principal amortization during the term. The history built across three capital events is what a nonrecourse lender cannot buy through diligence alone; it has to be lived.