Dealmaker: Cohen Financial Arranges $87M on the Coasts
Cohen Financial, Chicago, secured $86.6 million for condominium and apartment properties in Florida, California and Oregon.
In Florida, Cohen Financial secured $60.8 million for Property Markets Group in two separate deals. Cohen Director Eric McGlynn and Senior Managing Directors Kevin O’Grady and Daniel Sheehan secured a $33.8 million condo inventory loan for 25 unsold units at Echo Aventura with an affiliate of Benefit Street Partners. They also secured a $27 million land and pre-development loan for 300 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami with DW Partners LP, New York.
SRF Ventures, New York, co-advised with Cohen Financial on both transactions.
“With the $33.8 million condo inventory loan [on Echo Aventura], PMG partially monetized its profit at closing while retaining ownership of the last 25 units, which will allow PMG to sell the final units at a slower place, thereby maximizing sell-out values,” McGlynn said, noting that Cohen Financial sees appetite for this type of financing in South Florida.
Commenting on the acquisition and development loan for 300 Biscayne Boulevard, McGlynn said PMG’s strong track record, the well-located site and its significant equity position helped the firm secure a loan that capitalizes the project until it requires construction financing.
In California, Cohen Financial Managing Director Paul Schroeder arranged $14.25 million to refinance Arbor Ridge, a 95-unit community 12 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Whittier, Calif. He also secured $6.1 million to refinance Park View Apartments in San Diego’s Hillcrest submarket.
Both fixed-rate non-recourse loans from Opus Bank, Irvine, Calif. closed in December.
In Oregon, Cohen Financial secured $5.5 million to refinance Reflections at Hidden Creek, a 136-unit property in Keizer near state capital Salem.
Peter Norrie, Managing Director of Cohen Financial’s Portland, Ore. office, arranged the non-recourse, seven-year fixed-rate loan for local investors paying off a maturing commercial mortgage-backed securities loan. The loan-to-value on the refinance equaled 55 percent with a 30-year amortization schedule. Norrie said the borrower owns numerous properties in Portland, Keizer and Redmond, Oregon.
Norrie arranged the loan through Pillar, a Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing direct lender.
“This was a conservative loan request at 55 percent of value that enabled the borrower to have tax and insurance impounds waived along with funded replacement reserves as well as garnering a very good interest rate,” Norrie said. “The property has a strong occupancy history and was 100 percent occupied when we funded the loan.”
