Dealmaker: Thorofare Capital Lends $30M to Develop Denver Mixed-Use Property

Thorofare Capital, Los Angeles, provided a joint venture led by Mass Equities, Santa Monica, Calif., with $30.3 million in short-term bridge financing to acquire a Denver industrial facility and re-develop it into a mixed-use property.

The joint venture will immediately move forward with plans to re-develop the 65,000-square-foot warehouse building on the corner of Brighton Boulevard and 31st Street into creative office space as the first phase of a planned $200 million mixed-use redevelopment that will also include 480 market-rate apartments and 85,000 square feet of retail space.

Thorofare’s financing included two one-year interest-only cross-collateralized loans underwritten to 59 percent of value. Adjacent 63,500- and 93,500-square-foot warehouse buildings on Brighton Boulevard secure the loans.

The 7.8-acre site in Denver’s “RiNo” River North Arts District is one mile north of downtown Denver. A variety of tenants including specialty car dealer The Denver Collection and MPC Construction fully occupy the properties.

Mass Equities Founder and Managing Principal Andrew Sobel said his firm had been under contract since October to purchase the property from a group of local investors when financing fell through less than one week from closing. Thorofare funded the loans in four days from application to meet the hard close date, he said.

“The RiNo neighborhood is undergoing a significant transformation from an industrial corridor to a thriving artistic mixed-use destination and hotspot for urban infill and adaptive re-use opportunities,” Thorofare Principal and CIO Brendan Miller said.

Thorofare also funded an $8.6 million short-term bridge loan on The Lorimer BKLYN, a 10-unit new-construction condominium building on Lorimer Street in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Lorimer BKLYN is in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg submarket, one block from the L Train and 2 blocks from the G train. The property will include 10 storage units, terrace decks and private patios and will be sold as individual condominiums starting in spring 2018.