Dealmaker: NorthMarq Capital Arranges $69M in California

NorthMarq Capital, Minneapolis, arranged $68.5 million for three retail assets in California.

Ory Schwartz, senior vice president and managing director in NorthMarq’s Los Angeles office, negotiated $42 million to refinance Nordahl Marketplace, a 305,000-square-foot retail property in San Marcos, Calif.

Schwartz arranged the financing through NorthMarq’s correspondent relationship with a life insurance company and structured the loan with a fully amortizing 25-year term. The property houses more than 25 retailers including Walmart, Kohl’s, Guitar Center and Starbucks.

In Los Angeles, NorthMarq Vice President Joe Giordani arranged $22.5 million in bridge financing for a 60-percent occupied, 100,000-square- foot infill retail center. The 80 percent loan-to-cost non-recourse loan remains interest-only for its full two-year term.

“Infill retail centers like this with a value-add component are a rarity in today’s market,” Giordani said. “This shopping center was well occupied a few years ago but had entirely too much shop space with mom-and-pop retail tenants. The seller had brought the occupancy down on purpose in order to assemble space and create larger availabilities for credit tenants to occupy.”

Giordani said the property is now well positioned to attract larger credit tenants. “The buyer was looking for a max leverage, non-recourse bridge loan at a reasonable interest rate to finalize the transformation of the property and optimize its value,” he said. “This bridge lender accommodated their requests and also managed to get comfortable with a very complicated ownership structure.”

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, NorthMarq Executive Vice President and Managing Director Michael Elmore and Senior Director David Blum secured $4 million from a national bank to refinance El Paseo Plaza, a 17,000-square-foot property. They structured the 10-year cash-out loan with two years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule.