Transaction Overview
George Smith Partners secured $16,900,000 in bridge financing to acquire and renovate a 7-story office building (first floor retail) in the Jewelry District and historic core of Downtown Los Angeles. The property was originally built in 1913 with open floor plates and is perfectly designed for a conversion to creative office. Even though the project is well-located in the path of DTLA development, some challenges included a lack of both Sponsor experience and credit tenant preleasing. Moreover, being a purchase transaction added additional pressure to close without delays. GSP sourced a Capital Provider to get comfortable with the Sponsor’s team, business plan execution ability, and guarantor of the main leaseholder. While the original financing request estimated a 35% prelease, the Sponsor was able to obtain 60% preleasing by loan funding.
