Dealmaker: Bellwether Enterprise Closes $38M for Four Properties
Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, Cleveland, closed four deals totaling $37.9 million for two multifamily, one hospitality and one retail property in four states.
The deals included a $19.8 million bridge loan for a downtown Cincinnati multifamily property. Bellwether Senior Vice President Bob Pearson arranged the nonrecourse, interest-only mortgage using Voya as the lender. The four-year loan with a one-year extension option financed 75 percent of the property’s acquisition cost and provided additional credit to fund future capital improvements up to nearly $3.5 million.
“As a result, the bridge loan allowed the borrower to acquire control of the property, avoid recourse and finance all of their planned improvements by only providing paid invoices,” Pearson said, noting the Tenants-in-Common structure allowed two partners to take advantage of two separate 1031 exchanges. 
In Virginia, Bellwether Enterprise Vice President Kelly Martone arranged a $10.75 million construction takeout loan for Sterling King Apartments using Principal Financial Group as the lender. The building has 113 one- and two-bedroom units on 2.1 acres.
Bellwether Enterprise Vice President Marshall Waller arranged a $5.1 million bridge loan secured by South Carolina Cloverleaf Suites in Columbia, S.C. MidCap Financial Services LLC provided the loan to sponsor 150 Columbia LLC, which purchased the 120-room hotel from Suburban Stay Hotel and converted it into its own franchise of boutique hotels.
Some of the arranged financing will go toward property renovations, Waller said.
In Wake Forest, N.C., Vice President Kenan Poole secured a $2.3 million refinance loan for a 39,500-square-foot flex-retail building called Ligon Mill Business Center. Developed in 1997, the neighborhood center contains six multi-use flex buildings, two of which are converted condos, on 4.3 acres. The center is currently fully leased to long-term office, retail and restaurant tenants.
Life insurance company Symetra provided the loan to Lloyd’s of Wake Forest LLC.
