MRG secured $18 million to refinance the 150,000-sf Melville Corporate Center, at 105 Maxess Rd., and $8.7 million in acquisition financing for the purchase of a 99,487-sf office building at 125 Baylis Rd., both in Melville. "In both of these transactions, unprecedented issues associated with the aftermath of September 11 challenged the financing process and threatened the deals," says MRG executive vice president Jonathan Goldman.
The lender for the Baylis Road property, Bank of America, was represented by law firm Thatcher Proffitt & Wood, which occupied space in the World Trade Center. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, a correspondent of MRG whose offices at 7 Hanover Square were evacuated following the bombings, was the lender for 105 Maxess Rd.
The 10-year loan for the Melville Corporate Center, a two-story building set on an 8.4-acre lot, will be used by building owner T. Weiss Realty Corp. to pay off its construction debt and generate additional capital. The transaction was arranged by MRG vice president Robert Gladitsch.
"On the morning of September 11, the property's final fire inspection was under way when the fire marshal was called away," Gladitsch says. "With the commitment about to expire, Guardian's staff continued to work from their homes, extended the commitment and continued the closing process."
The Baylis Road loan is being used by a partnership of principals from the building's largest tenant, Holtz Rubenstein and Co., to purchase the property from Reckson Associates Realty Corp. The 10-year loan, placed with Bank of America, has a 25-year amortization and represented 77% of the purchase price.
In a situation similar to the Melville Corporate Center deal, the 125 Baylis Rd. loan commitment expired four days after the September 11 attacks. B of A extended the commitment and held the spread as the parties worked from their homes to close the deal.
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