Dealmaker: Sonnenblick-Eichner Arranges $50M Utah Construction Loan

(Lionsback Resort, Moab, Utah.)

Sonnenblick-Eichner Co., Beverly Hills, Calif., arranged $50 million in construction financing for Phase I of the Lionsback Resort in Moab, Utah.

The 175-acre development sits adjacent to Canyonlands and Arches National Park in eastern Utah.

Proceeds from the fixed-rate non-recourse loan will complete Phase I onsite infrastructure improvements and vertical construction of the initial 34 single-family homes as well as the horizontal infrastructure of Phase II. At build-out, the $350 million development will include 188 single-family residence casitas and a resort hotel. The project represents the first luxury residential development in Moab.

“Given the unique location of the site and the strict barriers to entry, we were successful in procuring a lender that provided a non-recourse loan at 85% of cost,” said Sonnenblick-Eichner Principal Elliot Eichner.

David Sonnenblick, also a Principal with Sonnenblick-Eichner, noted the borrower spent 16 years obtaining the entitlements to build this project. “We were fortunate, given the uncertainty in the market, to be able to identify a lender who understood the viability of this special development,” he said.