Dealmaker: Meridian Capital Group Arranges $39M in New York

Meridian Capital Group, New York, negotiated $39.1 million for retail, office, industrial and hotel properties in New York.

On Long Island, Meridian Associate Bryan Kallenberg negotiated $22.6 million to refinance a five-property retail and office portfolio. A local balance sheet lender provided the seven-year loans.

The 140,000-square-foot portfolio included four retail strip centers and one office property.

“The client needed to refinance an existing $21 million blanket mortgage that was collateralized by all five properties and preferred a local lender, capable of providing five separate loans, one for each property,” Kallenberg said. He noted that he obtained $1.6 million in proceeds above the principal loan balance being refinanced.

The 70 percent loan-to-value fixed-rate loan priced in the low 4 percent range, Kallenberg said.

In the Bronx, Meridian Vice Presidents Michael Farkovits and Steve Edelstein arranged $7.5 million in bridge financing for 670 East 137th Street, a two-story industrial property. The two-year loan from a bridge lender included full-term interest-only payments, Farkovits said.

“The sponsor owns an identical asset across the street and is very familiar with the property and the area,” Edelstein said, noting that the financing supports the sponsor’s value-add business plan.

Meridian also arranged $9 million to refinance the 95-key Hampton Inn by Hilton in Manheim, Pa. Vice President Josh Munk secured the five-year fixed-rate loan at 4.87 percent.

“It has become a challenge to arrange financing for seasonal assets such as hotels because of increasingly strict bank regulations,” Munk said. “While commercial mortgage-backed securities dynamics allow for hotels to be placed in large loan pools with a variety of loan sizes and property types, it is more difficult to negotiate balance sheet loans for hotel assets.” But he noted that the loan closed at a lower rate than originally quoted and with added proceeds.