Dealmaker: iBorrow Provides $26M for Retail, Student Housing

(900 W. 23rd St., Austin, Texas.)

iBorrow, Los Angeles, provided $26.2 million in financing for a California retail center and a Texas student housing property.

In Santa Clarita, Calif., iBorrow provided a $15 million loan to refinance the 100,000-square-foot Old Orchard Shopping Center located at 23329-23449 Lyons Ave. The loan retired an outstanding commercial mortgage-backed securities loan and provided a reserve for tenant improvements and leasing commissions for newly leased suites.

“Commercial strip-mall style properties in densely populated suburban neighborhoods like Santa Clarita are continuing to rebound well post-COVID,” said iBorrow CEO Brian Good. “This property’s unique mix of grocery, fast food and niche tenants should provide resilience even during an economic downturn.”

Good said the current interest rate environment presents a good time for borrowers to seek out alternative lending sources. “In a rising interest rate world, seizing opportunities to purchase well-located assets or refinance existing properties requires a true funding partner that looks holistically at the deal, not just at the investor’s credit report,” he said.

In Austin, Texas, iBorrow provided $11.2 million to Hawkwood Ventures LLC, Los Angeles, for a 140-bed, four-story student housing asset at 900 W. 23rd Street that serves students attending the University of Texas-Austin.

The financing will fund a series of capital improvements to better position the property to benefit from record occupancy in the student housing sector, Good noted.

“The borrower is highly entrepreneurial and sees substantial opportunity in providing quality housing to University of Texas students as they take ownership of this asset and look to maximize its value,” Good said. “Even though there are challenges due to recent interest rate increases, rising rents and solid pre-leasing trends in student housing all indicate strong fundamentals for the investor.”