Dealmaker: Sonnenblick-Eichner Secures $29M New Orleans Hotel Refinance

Sonnenblick-Eichner Co., Beverly Hills, Calif., arranged $29.2 million in interim first mortgage financing to refinance Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District.

The five-year floating-rate loan priced in the mid-300s over LIBOR. Loan proceeds refinanced the existing acquisition loan and returned equity to the borrower.

The 167-room full-service hotel near the city’s French Quarter completed a $94,000 per room renovation in 2015. Improvements included renovating all guest rooms, bathrooms and public spaces and building out the ground floor restaurant space.

“The interim floating-rate loan will allow the property to continue to ramp up post-renovation while providing a lower cost of capital than the original acquisition loan,” said Sonnenblick-Eichner Principal Elliot Eichner.

Patrick Brown, also a Principal with Sonnenblick-Eichner, noted the refinancing replaces another loan arranged by his firm in 2016.

Provenance Hotel Partners, Portland, Ore., acquired the equity interest in the property from its partners GB Lodging and Woodbine Development Corp. in 2016.