$25,000,000 Refinance of Mixed-Use Property, 7.0% Stabilized Debt Yield, 10 Years Interest-Only; Santa Clarita, CA

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners successfully advised on the refinance of two parcels containing a vacant commercial retail building and 90% leased mixed-use residential/retail building in Los Angeles, CA. The senior loan proceeds totaled $9,800,000 of non-recourse financing, approximately 58% LTV. After the COVID-19 pandemic largely stopped retail leasing, the Sponsor responded to changing market dynamics by altering business plans to re-entitle the vacant retail parcel to multifamily. Negotiating an LOI for the sale of the mixed-use residential building, the Sponsor required a bridge loan to pay off the existing bridge debt and carry both parcels until the completion of entitlements and eventual sale.

GSP had to strategically market the opportunity given a weak, Covid-related retail leasing market and relatively complicated business plan. With deliberate advising of GSP, the Sponsor was able to achieve fixed, non-recourse financing despite a fully vacant building.

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners arranged $4,450,000 in financing for the refinance of a stabilized 37-unit mixed use property located in Los Angeles, California. The loan is fixed at a rate of 3.40% for 7 years. The new financing is a takeout of the acquisition loan that GSP closed five years earlier. Over the course of their ownership, the Sponsor performed a renovation of the Property and substantially increased the net operating income. As a result, the new loan provided a significant return of equity. The Lender held the rate of 3.40% even though interest rates increased while the loan was in application. Full credit was given for the income from two ground floor retail tenants. The loan has 5 years of interest-only payments.

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners arranged $61,392,000 in first mortgage debt for the refinance of a mixed-use office, industrial and lab campus in the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut). The corporate user developed the campus in phases between 1906 and 2008, and the improvements consist of over two million square feet of laboratory, pharmaceutical manufacturing, office and support buildings including a central utility plant. The user still owns some buildings, and leases others on the campus. The Sponsor purchased the asset in 2015 with a long-term redevelopment goal to create a life sciences destination that will build on the existing laboratory, manufacturing, and office uses. The Property will ultimately feature shopping, dining, meeting and educational experiences as part of a cohesive “work/live/play” community.

GSP sourced a loan from a capital provider that was able to underwrite in-place income with flexibility for an ever-evolving business plan. The three-year, interest only initial loan term is structured as an initial advance of $42,940,000 with the remaining $18,452,000 future funded for approved capital expenditures and tenant improvements/leasing commissions for to-be-leased space. No interest is due on funds until drawn. The loan is open for prepayment at any time subject to a 24-month minimum interest payment.

Transaction Description:
In 2015 GSP financed a mixed-use retail/SRO-Hotel project in the “SoMa” (South of Market area) of San Francisco for $10,000,000. The Sponsor has continued to improve the Property and create additional value. Over the last several years the Property has doubled in value. The Sponsor was looking to recapitalize the original loan and take out $5,000,000 of cash equity.

Challenges:
The Sponsor did not want to pay prepayment penalties or incur a large refinance expense. The existing Lender did not have a program to allow for recapitalization or additional funding of their current loan.

Solution:
GSP underwrote and proposed a recapitalization program that would allow the Lender, with only a 25 bps increase, to provide a new $15,000,000 loan that provided the Borrower with $5,000,0000 cash-out. This allowed the Borrower to get the proceeds needed without refinancing expenses or prepayment penalties.

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners secured a $45,000,000 non-recourse cash-out loan for the refinance of an office and production studio property located in the heart of Hollywood, California. The Sponsor purchased the Property all-cash in late 2017, with the knowledge that the in-place tenant had an early 2018 lease maturity and would not be renewing. Shortly after purchasing the asset with no tenant in tow, the Sponsor signed a long term lease with a high profile media technology company for the entire property.

Challenges:

Despite a long term lease with a prominent credit tenant, the transaction posted numerous challenges. Transaction requirements included: a lender comfortable with the asset’s specialty use; a non-recourse execution; a structure with no prepayment penalty allowing for maximum flexibility in the event of a sale or refinance; no impounds, escrows or lockboxes; and $45,000,000 in proceeds at a sub 5% rate.

Solutions:

In addition to emphasizing the iconic nature of the asset and its trophy location, GSP demonstrated the significant value the Sponsor had unlocked by signing an accretive lease with a long term, credit tenant and the Sponsor’s significant cash investment remaining in the Property. GSP also provided sales and rent comps supporting the basis in the asset and the rental rate in the lease. These items ultimately allowed the Lender to get comfortable with the transaction.

The $45,000,000 non-recourse loan carries a 7-year term and floats at an attractive rate of Prime minus 25 bps (4.75% today). The loan requires no impounds, escrows or lockboxes and is freely prepayable at any time with no penalty or exit fee.

George Smith Partners arranged a $2,925,000 cash-out refinance loan for a 20,300 square foot mixed-use office over retail property in Palm Desert, California. The deal presented numerous challenges. First, the sponsor only owned the property for three months. Second, a lease was not available for the anchor restaurant space comprising two thirds of the property’s square footage. Third, the sponsor required extremely high leverage and conventional bank interest rates. Finally, the Sponsor needed to close the refinance transaction in 30 days due to a pending acquisition.

To overcome the challenges George Smith Partners sourced a bank lender with which it had a long history of closing aggressive conventional financing with low interest rates. The property’s attractive location in Palm Desert, between the well-known retail thorofare of El Paseo and Highway 111, was emphasized as well as the Sponsor’s successful track record of purchasing notes on distressed properties, foreclosing on those properties and repositioning them.

Sized to an aggressive 87% of purchase price, the loan included a 6-month interest reserve but did not require a holdback for TIs and LCs. The three year mini permanent loan is interest only for the first 12 months followed by 25 year amortization for the remaining two years. The loan floats at Prime plus 0.5% (5.25% today) with no prepayment penalty, and the lender fee was a minimal 0.5%. The loan closed in exactly 30 calendar days from application, which is an extremely fast closing timeframe for a conventional bank.