Dealmaker: Cohen Financial Arranges $53M for Retail, Multifamily

Cohen Financial, Chicago, arranged $53.3 million for retail and multifamily assets in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

In Vancouver, Wash., Cohen Financial Managing Director Peter Norrie closed two loans totaling $11.9 million to refinance two retail strip centers. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union supplied the fixed-rate five-year financing in the mid-4 percent range. The loans carried an option to extend for another five years.

Norrie also arranged $7.2 million for 164th Plaza and $4.7 million for Salmon Creek Center. The borrower is a Vancouver retail and office developer.

“The retail marketplace in Portland and Vancouver is rather strong,” Norrie said. “Vacancies are low and rents are increasing for both anchored and non-anchored retail properties.”

Norrie also secured $5.4 million in Fannie Mae funds to refinance Nolan Ridge Apartments, a 64-unit garden-style property built in 2002. The property is located in Salem suburb Keizer, Ore.

Pillar, New York, supplied the 10-year fixed-rate loan.

“The property qualified for Fannie Mae’s affordable green renovations program that will benefit the property’s future positioning in the marketplace,” Norrie said. “The borrower took advantage of this program to secure new financing for the property and a better interest rate.”

Cohen Financial closed two deals in Illinois. In Northbrook, Ill. Managing Director Michael Hart arranged an $18.9 million short-term bridge loan for Ameritus, Chicago to acquire 195,000 square-foot office building 400 Skokie. Hart secured the loan from a Chicago bank.

The property is a multi-tenant office building near the William Edens Expressway, currently 75 percent occupied.

“This is a value-add investment for our client who will use the bridge loan to upgrade the base building and common areas and to reposition 400 Skokie as the highest-quality Class B office building in this Chicago submarket,” Hart said. He noted Northbrook’s Class A office buildings are all currently at least 90 percent leased. “Tenants that want to expand have few alternatives at 400 Skokie’s rental price point. Additionally, the property is located in a particularly appealing area of Northbrook close to numerous amenities in the affluent North Shore area.”

In Minneapolis, Cohen Financial Managing Director Cathy Bronkema secured a $15.3 million bridge loan secured by the Minneapolis Grand Apartments. Trillium Investments, Grand Rapids, Mich., owns the 112-unit property, which was 97 percent occupied at closing.

Bronkema secured the financing with a New York-based private real estate investment fund based. “We secured the short-term bridge loan for Trillium to execute their business plan to enhance Minneapolis Grand’s value through upgrading the apartment units,” she said. “The multifamily product continues to be the favorable property type for investors and lenders to achieve yield based on risk.”