The financing replaces construction loans put together by a consortium of banks headed by Bank of America, says Jim Cobb, director of the Denver office of L.J. Melody & Co., who put together the CIGNA deal with Doug Mueller of the Phoenix office L.J. Melody. Westcor is the Phoenix developer of FlatIron.
''I can't think of anything of this magnitude for a single asset,'' Cobb tells GlobeSt.com. ''The Park Meadows Mall was financed around four years ago for around $100 million.''
About two years ago, L.J. Melody financed the Wells Fargo Center in Downtown Denver, the biggest single deal in recent history in the market.
''That loan was for about $100 million,'' with the buyer putting more than $100 million of equity into the purchase, he says. ''And if you look at the Denver Tech Center office building, a top building goes for $60 million or $70 million.''
There may have been some portfolio deals that topped the $180 million loan figure, he adds.
Under the CIGNA deal, Westcor has a floating rate on a five-year term. Westcor hired L.J. Melody because it new of its relationship with CIGNA, Cobb says.
L.J. Melody acts as the ''eyes and ears'' for CIGNA, which he says is likely the largest lender on regional malls in the nation.
''We working on this loan for months,'' Cobb says. ''We closed after Sept. 11. Since Sept. 11, quite a few lenders have been sitting on the sidelines.''
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
