- Rate: Terms are confidential
- LTC: 75%
- Non-recourse
Transaction Description: GSP successfully arranged the $49,500,000 non-recourse, construction loan for a 65,000 square foot office, retail, and apartment project in Palo Alto, California. The subject is adjacent to Stanford University. The developer received the necessary zone change and entitlements in 2009 but construction was delayed during the market down-turn and the lack of construction financing.
Challenge: The Sponsor required high-leverage, non-recourse construction financing with no additional equity requirement.
Solution: GSP demonstrated the incredible strength and desirability of the Palo Alto office market, one of the tightest in the Country with less than a 5% vacancy and monthly office rents reaching $8.00 psf NNN. The lender understood the value of this location as well as the value of the new zoning obtained in 2009. The lender provided a 75% loan-to-cost, non-recourse financing structure with a 30-month term which utilized the existing cash and imputed equity in the project. The Sponsor only supplied a completion guarantee.
Advisors
Related Financings
-
$56,500,000 Construction Financing for a Coastal Infill Mixed-Use Asset; Solana Beach, CA
May 19, 2021
Transaction Description:
George Smith Partners arranged $56,500,000 in construction financing for the development of a mixed-use coastal infill project in Solana Beach, CA. The mixed-use development features 55,000 square feet of office space, 9,000 square feet of retail and 25 apartment units.
Located just one block from the beach and the Cedros Avenue Design District, the two-story development focused on sustainability will be the largest mixed-use project along Highway 101 in the past three decades. The dearth of comparable projects, especially ones with large office floorplates, presented a unique opportunity.
Amidst a time of market volatility and economic uncertainty, GSP was able to identify capital who not only understood the value of all three components and the subsequent demand but also the ability of the Sponsor to execute on the intended business plan.All Terms Confidential
-
$13,944,000 ($1,180/SF) Non-Recourse Construction Financing for the Redevelopment of a Former Single-Tenant Office Property in Santa Monica, CA
June 12, 2019
Transaction Description:
George Smith Partners placed $13,944,000 in non-recourse construction debt for the conversion of a former single-tenant office property into an 11,800 square foot, luxury, multi-tenant retail property in a prime submarket of Santa Monica, California. GSP diligently worked to source a lender comfortable with funding a loan at a high basis of $1,180/SF for a “first-mover” redevelopment that was 64% pre-leased (on an economic basis) at record-setting rents to a mix of local and regional food and fitness users. Further complicating the loan request was the need to allocate separate components of the “bad boy” non-recourse carve-outs among two unrelated guarantor entities. Approximately 55% of the loan proceeds were future funded with no interest paid on unfunded loan proceeds until drawn.
Rate: One-Month LIBOR + 4.25% (6.75%) at closing burning down to One-Month LIBOR + 3.75% (6.25%) upon stabilization
Term: Three-year initial term plus two one-year extension options
Amortization: Interest only
Debt Yield: 8.5% stable debt yield
LTV: 70% as-complete value, 60% as-stable value
Prepayment: Open prepayment with 24-month spread maintenance
Guaranty: Non-Recourse
Lender Fee: 1% -
Construction Loans Temecula: $3,700,000 3-Story Mixed-Use Retail & Office Construction Financing to 67% of Cost
February 7, 2018
George Smith Partners arranged $3,700,000 in construction financing to develop 15,860 square feet of retail and office in Old Town Temecula, California. The developer plans to lease the ground and second floor with retail tenants and reserve the 3rd floor for office tenants. The challenges of the financing included the use of EB-5 equity in a spec development within a tertiary market. Our Sponsor desired financing without pre-leasing requirements to take advantage of the demand for this dynamic location during construction. Significant market interest from prospective tenants proved the thesis to the capital provider on a speculative basis.
Rate: WSJP+4.25%
Term: 18-month term with Two 6-month extensions
Amortization: IO
LTC: 67% LTC
Prepayment: 12-month minimum interest
Guarantee: Recourse- Advisors: Scott Meredith
-
$125,000,000 Pre-Development and Construction Loan
July 9, 2015
Transaction Description: George Smith Partners secured the pre-development and Phase I construction loan for the $240,000,000 Celebration Point mixed-use project in Gainesville, Florida. Comprised of over 1 million square feet of mixed-use retail, office, multifamily and hospitality, tenancy will included Bass Pro Shops, Regal Luxury Theater and the 137-key Hotel Indigo. Located on I-75 and Archer Road, the project will be adjacent to the University of Florida campus. This loan works alongside accommodative bond financing for a portion of the infrastructure and includes features that allow different project elements to be sold during the course of the development process. Phase I is slated to open in the fall of 2016. Sized to 54% of cost, the LIBOR based loan requires a repayment guarantee to the primary Sponsor.
-
$52,285,850 Senior Construction & Mezzanine Development Financing w/Performance Bonds
June 19, 2013
6 – 12 – 13 Transaction Description: George Smith Partners placed the $52,285,850 Senior Construction & Mezzanine Development Financing w/Performance Bonds for Phase I of a 310 acre master development project in Upper Marlboro, Prince George County, Maryland. Upon completion, the build out will encompass 533,000 sf of retail, 845 “for sale” SFRs & town homes, 2,240,000 sf.of office, 600 key hotels (multiple flags) and 884 multifamily rental units. The financing provided was for Phase I of the development, which consists of the entire infrastructure to deliver 500,000 sf of retail, 348 town homes, 504 rental units and a 150-key hotel. The raw land was initially purchased in February 2012 for $23,700,000. Challenge: The foreign based international development company has been extremely active in acquiring land in the United States during the past 5 years from their Canadian HQ. Collectively, they have acquired over 50,000+ acres in Arizona, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, DC Region and Southern California. While they have been active in developing their land holdings in Canada since 1979, this was their first large financing request in the U.S. (The company owns all of their land un-levered). To add further complexity, the ownership structure in this asset included a Canadian Public Company and a German entity, which owned the asset as a TIC Structure. This precluded the sponsor from using a pledge of membership interest for the mezzanine financing. Sponsorship also had an important deadline to start the development. Negotiating the inter-creditor was paramount in a successful closing of the capital stack between the senior & mezzanine lenders. Prince George County has some of the most difficult performance bonding requirements in the country. Solution: GSP immediately embarked on a strategic and national in scope process of marketing that included face-to-face meetings in Boston, New York, Maryland, Virginia, DC, Texas, Arizona & California. The project included many moving parts involving articulating the strengths in multiple disciplines; valuation in retail, single family, hospitality, multifamily rentals, office & residual tract land. Combining this articulation and blanketing the country, GSP was able to secure senior debt from a Texas based bank that understood land development and was excited about the prospects for future development opportunities with this sponsor. GSP then structured the mezzanine loan from a New York based hedge fund making its first investment in commercial real estate. By focusing on market education in structuring and collateral, we were able to successfully complete a complicated inter-creditor agreement and funding by the mezzanine loan. Securing the mezzanine loan as a 2nd trust deed, we were able to provide the mezzanine lender it’s security, rather than by the standard pledge of membership interest. By adding a portion of the bonding capacity from the lender, the Sponsor was able to reduce the overall costs to secure the performance bonds for the project. The Grand Opening of the project is Thursday, June 13th. Rate: 7.58% Blended Term: 3 Years w/two – 1 Year Exts LTC: 66.7% Recourse: 50% recourse limited to a corporate entity. Advisors: Malcolm Davies, Peter Kleinberg, Drew Sandler.
For more information, please visit www.WestphaliaTownCenter.com
