PLANO, TEXAS — Chicago-based NXT Capital has provided a $53 million loan for the refinancing of a 320-unit apartment community located in the northeastern Dallas suburb of Plano. The property is located within a mile of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and the Dallas North Tollway junction. Amenities include a resort-style pool with cabanas, fitness center, resident lounge with coffee bar, business center, pet play area and walking and running trails. Jeremy Sain of HFF placed the loan with NXT Capital on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — LMI Capital, a Real Estate Capital Alliance (RECA) member, has arranged two acquisition loans totaling $39 million for a pair of multifamily assets in Corpus Christi. In the first transaction, Brandon Brown of LMI Capital placed a $16 million, nonrecourse loan for a 190-unit property. The loan carried a 4.47 percent interest rate and four years of interest-only payments. In the second deal, Brown arranged a $23 million bridge loan for a 265-unit community, which was structured with a floating interest rate and three years of interest-only payments. The borrowers and property names were not disclosed.
TEXAS — Live Oak Bank has provided a $10 million conventional loan for the acquisition and renovation of a 90-unit assisted living and memory care community. The name and location were not disclosed, though the lender noted the property is located “in a significant Texas market.” The borrower was a private investment firm that acquired the project from the original developer and will introduce new management with a multi-year plan to stabilize the project. The balance sheet loan features a 70 percent loan-to-value ratio, five-year term, interest-only period and flexible prepayment options.
MONROEVILLE, PA. — Next Tier Connect has acquired the former Westinghouse Nuclear headquarters campus in Monroeville. The 505,000-square-foot campus is located at 4350 Northern Pike, 15 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh. The property comprises two buildings connected by a common entrance. Other features of the facility include 206,000 square feet of contiguous space on the second, third and fourth floors of the East Tower; a shipping and receiving area with three loading docks. This is the first acquisition by Next Tier Connect, which is a recently formed partnership between New York City-based companies Next Tier HD and RedBird Capital Partners. The new partnership plans to reposition the property and rebrand it as Next Tier Connect — Pittsburgh East. The two buildings are currently home to several Fortune 500 companies for office, call center, business continuity, and data center spaces. Next Tier Connect has also signed new tenants since closing on the sale. In a press release announcing the new company, RedBird and Next Tier HD officials said, “Next Tier Connect will seek to acquire mixed-use, mission-critical real estate properties and data center-related properties across the United States.” Mission-critical real estate assets are purpose-built facilities designed to support the most essential …
In the last few years, the greater Des Moines metro area has been a title holder, reigning as a “Top Place to Live,” “Top City for Young Professionals” and even “Best Place to Retire.” Meanwhile the economy, business environment and commercial real estate sector hold titles like steady, stable and reliable. However, over the past 24 months, the commercial office market could add thriving, prosperous and robust to that list of adjectives. As office lease rates continue to rise 1.5 to 2.5 percent annually in quality buildings, most landlords are implementing capital improvement plans that “refresh” their assets and have begun to offer amenity packages that the tenant marketplace demands. With the unemployment rate near a historical low — an estimated 2.4 percent — it has become ever more critical and competitive to recruit and retain new workforce talent. Lease concession offerings from landlords, such as rent abatement and above-standard tenant improvement packages, have decreased since post-recession levels. Despite these positive fundamentals, headwinds are facing the marketplace. A tremendous amount of block space, some from formerly non-competitive or single-tenant buildings, has come available and concession levels could once again increase as landlords compete for tenants looking for a larger footprint. …
As the economy continues its upward trajectory, hotels are enjoying the benefits of strong demand from both personal and business travel. Despite these solid operating fundamentals, many lenders are apprehensive about the record length of the current economic expansion and the impact that a future downturn may have on room rates and occupancy levels. In response to these growing fears, many capital sources have either tightened their lending criteria or decided to cease hospitality lending all together. As traditional sources of financing retreat, hospitality owners have had to look far and wide for lenders that remain receptive to this asset class. This has created opportunities for lesser-known sources of capital, like Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union, to finance high quality properties. By going against the trend and utilizing internal specialization, Alliant has been able to exercise a level of selectivity that a more crowded field prevented until recently. This has resulted in loans on well-located properties with demonstrable operating results that are run by highly experienced owners with the financial resources to withstand a downturn. The emergence of non-household name lenders has enabled an accomplished subset of borrowers to access needed liquidity and obtain favorable loan terms in light of the …
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — CBRE has arranged a $53.6 million loan for the acquisition of 445 South Street, a 320,274-square-foot office building in Morristown, located west of Newark. James Gunning, Donna Falzarano and Kyle Saviano of CBRE sourced the financing through Morgan Stanley to finance the sponsor’s prior all-cash acquisition of the property. The borrower was Strategic Real Estate LLC. The building is leased to tenants such as Travelers Insurance, Covanta Energy Corp. and Arch Reinsurance Co., and offers amenities such as a outdoor basketball court, a fitness center, two conference rooms and a full-service cafeteria.
BOSTON — A joint venture between urban developer Accordia Partners and a private equity fund managed by Ares Management Corp. has acquired 2 Morrissey Boulevard, a 425,000-square-foot office complex in Boston. Located in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood, the five-building property was fully leased at the time of sale to Santander Bank. The complex is also situated across the street from the 20-acre site of the former Bayside Expo Center, which the joint venture is redeveloping. Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller, an affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners, in the transaction, and arranged acquisition financing for the buyer.
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — American Equity Partners has purchased One Tower Center, a 23-story office property in East Brunswick, located roughly midway between Trenton and Newark, for $38 million. The property was 39 percent leased at the time of sale, and the new ownership will implement a value-add program that will reimagine the lobby and expand the amenity package. Jeffrey Dunne, Jeremy Neuer, Travis Langer and Zach McHale of CBRE represented the seller, an institutional investor, and procured the buyer in the transaction.
WEST CHESTER, PA. — HJ Sims has arranged $20.5 million for the rebuilding of a portion of Barclay Friends, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in West Chester, a borough 25 miles west of Philadelphia. In 2017, a fire destroyed the Woolman Building, which housed residential, dining, common areas, administrative space and the memory care programming. While the skilled nursing areas reopened following renovations in 2018, ownership is still finalizing plans to replace the Woolman Building. Barclay’s property and casualty insurance coverage was expected to fund a portion of the replacement facility along with an equity contribution; the remainder was to be provided via external debt financing. Sims arranged the financing package, which will both fund the rebuilding and refinance existing debt. M&T provided the capital. Construction is scheduled to begin this year