Dealmaker: Bellwether Enterprise Closes $50M
Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, Cleveland, closed $50.1 million in Colorado and Texas.
In Denver, the firm closed a $13.5 million private placement loan that refinanced The Quayle, a historic hotel restored as a mixed-use affordable multifamily and commercial property.
Bellwether Senior Vice President Anthea Martin originated the loan for borrower Zocalo Community Development, Denver. Bellwether Executive Vice President Jim Gillespie and Vice President Ilya Weinstein served as the private placement lead.
Martin noted The Quayle debuted 114 years ago as the First Avenue Hotel in Denver’s Baker neighborhood. The adaptive re-use project involved renovating the four-story structure and adding a new-construction five-story building. The combined project contains 13 studio and 89 one-bedroom residential units reserved for renters earning less than 60 percent of area median income. The Quayle also has 11,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space with four restaurant tenants.
The Quayle was funded with two private activity housing bonds totaling $13.5 million, both issued by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. The bonds included two years of interest-only financing followed by a 40-year amortization. The first $13 million bond is tax-exempt; the remaining $575,000 is taxable. The 4 percent interest private activity housing bonds encumbered a Land Use Restriction Agreement to keep the property income-restricted though 2049.
The financing package also included $4.6 million in tax credit equity, $915,000 in state historic tax credit loan proceeds with 0.10 percent compound interest and $230,000 tax increment financing with 6 percent compound interest. The historic tax credit and TIF loans both amortize over 40 years.
Bellwether also closed a $36.6 million private placement bonds loan for Bristol at Somerset Ranch, a 348-unit new construction affordable multifamily development in San Antonio, Texas.
Phil Melton, Executive Vice President and National Director of Affordable Housing with Bellwether, and Senior Vice President Cindy Hannon originated the loan for borrowers Steve Poppoon of LP Development and Manish Verma of GMAT Development.
“San Antonio is a strong market with an incredibly high demand for communities that offer affordable housing for families,” Melton said. “Building 348 units of quality affordable housing will help ensure people of all income levels can access homes in the second-biggest city in Texas and contribute to the wider San Antonio community.”
Bristol at Somerset Ranch utilizes 4 percent tax-exempt private activity bonds issued by the Las Varas Public Facility Corp. The property, owned by the nonprofit San Antonio Facility Corp. under the San Antonio Housing Authority, also has a 15-year mortgage with a 40-year amortization.
