![MBA Newslink Logo](https://newslink.mba.org/wp-content/themes/mba-newslinks/assets/img/logos/mba-newslinks-child-page-logo.png)
Berkadia Arranges $46.5M Refinancing for Causeway Square
Berkadia, New York, secured $46.5 million to recapitalize Causeway Square, a 169,000-square-foot mixed-use development in North Miami, Fla.
Located at the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and NE 123rd Street, Causeway Square houses retail, office and service tenants including LA Fitness, Vitamin Shoppe and more than 80,000 square feet of Class A office space. The property is currently 96 percent occupied.
Berkadia Senior Managing Director Charles Foschini, Managing Director Chris Apone and Analyst Robert Iudice secured the 10-year financing from 3650 REIT, Miami, for client Taubco, Bay Harbor Islands, Fla.
Foschini cited several challenges to closing the loan. “In order to arrive at the value needed to refinance the existing mortgage, a lender and their appraiser needed to understand and agree that Causeway Square is a composition of multiple assets, each with its own value and cap rate,” he said. “It includes a Class A office asset with structured parking, a stand-alone LA Fitness, a neighborhood retail center and several credit outparcels each with its own value.”
Built in 2009 and 2010, Causeway Square is 10 miles north of downtown Miami at a high-traffic intersection that connects North Miami to Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles Beach.
Berkadia also arranged $49 million in financing to redevelop the former Salvation Army Freedom Center at 1515 West Monroe Street in Chicago into a 260-unit FLATS apartment complex with ground floor retail. Director Michael Slovitt secured the non-recourse renovation loan for apartment developer CEDARst Cos., Chicago, through Granite Point Mortgage Trust, New York. The deal closed October 11.
“This asset is straddled between the Medical District and Fulton Market and will offer a more affordable rental option than other recently constructed apartment projects,” said CEDARst Cos. Managing Partner Will Murphy.
The Duncan is expected to deliver by 2020. The property is near the largest urban medical district in the United States with 560 acres of medical research facilities, four major hospitals and two medical universities.