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Meridian Capital Group, New York, arranged $16 million for office and mixed-use assets in Texas and California.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, Meridian Senior Vice President Jason Grimm, Managing Director Noam Kaminetzky and Senior Managing Director Israel Schubert negotiated $11.5 million that allowed The Tridium Group to purchase Wilson Plaza.

Located at 606 North Carancahua Street in Corpus Christi near City Hall and the Nueces County Courthouse Wilson Plaza is a 17-story office property totaling 270,000 square feet. Constructed in 1927, the building was the city’s first skyscraper.

Corpus Christi harbors one of the largest ports in the United States, which has become the nation’s largest crude oil export point. More than $50 billion in port expansion and other industrial projects are approved or underway.

“The value-add opportunity on this acquisition was very apparent,” Grimm said. “However, with more than 100 tenants in place and below-market occupancy, it was a challenge.” In the end The Tridium Group chose a loan with funding for capital expenditures, tenant improvements and leasing commissions, he said.

Kaminetzky noted Wilson Plaza was underperforming, with numerous tenants on month-to-month leases and the property’s major tenant up for renewal. “Many lenders shied away from this deal, but we were able to leverage our relationship with a non-recourse balance sheet lender to structure a deal that provided the lender with sufficient financial protections and coverage checkpoints while still allowing flexibility for the borrower to execute their business plan,” he said.

The five-year balance sheet lender loan included full-term interest-only payments.

In Los Angeles, Meridian Senior Managing Director Seth Grossman and Associate Andy Strauss arranged $5.5 million to refinance The Covell Building. The 10-year commercial mortgage-backed securities loan came with a fixed rate and full-term interest-only payments.

Located at 4642-4632 Hollywood Boulevard, the two two-story mixed-use buildings span more than 15,000 square feet and include retail tenants on the ground floors and Hotel Covell on the second floor of both properties.

“The unique tenant mix of these two adjacent buildings caters extremely well to the neighborhood and is in direct contrast to what was in place at the time of purchase,” Grossman said. “These two buildings were separately acquired by our client years ago while in distress. The total transformation was recognized by lenders and led to excellent refinance options.”