Dealmaker: PACE Loan Group Closes $32M C-PACE Loan for Florida Hotel

(Illustration courtesy of PACE Loan Group)

PACE Loan Group, Minneapolis, closed a $32.15 million C-PACE loan for a new 274-room Hyatt House hotel in Orlando, Fla.

The hotel at 6469 Westwood Boulevard, set to begin construction by April, will have direct accessibility to the Orange County Convention Center via a pedestrian skyway.

“This was an innovative structure with PLG acting as the senior lender with other structured capital completing the capital stack,” noted Joel Rosen, president of GFI Hospitality, the lead partner in a joint venture with LCP Group. Both real estate investment groups are based in New York.

“We were thoughtful in how we structured this loan, maximizing the C-PACE proceeds after the energy audit was completed, which was after the initial term sheet was issued,” said Jerry Ellis, managing director and head of loan structuring with PACE Loan Group. “This provided a more cost-effective capital stack for the sponsors.”

The C-PACE loan will cover energy-efficient HVAC, elevators, windows, high-efficiency plumbing, lighting, and mechanical systems.

With an on-site restaurant, bar and fitness center, the sponsors expect the extended-stay hotel to attract both business and leisure travelers. Occupying approximately five acres, the hotel will offer 60 percent of its units with full kitchens with 40 percent standard hotel rooms.

The Orange County Convention Center–the second-largest convention center in the U.S. with 2.3 million square feet of exhibition space–draws an average of 1.4 million attendees annually.