The lender was Cigna Investments, which held the previous loan as well. The official borrower was Bellevue Square Managers Inc. The 10-year loan was sourced by Mike Makar and Jack Standeford of LJ Melody's Seattle office.
Both brokers declined to discuss the deal's financials, other than to say that pricing was based on the 10-year treasury. Other knowledgable sources say the loan-to-value ratio was around 60% for the new loan and that the old loan was about $142 million.
Bellevue Square is one of the premier malls in the Northwest. It is anchored by Nordstrom, The Bon Marche and JC Penney. Other major tenants include Crate and Barrel, The Cheese Cake Factory, and the Bon Home Store.
Given the quality of the asset--it's considered one of the best malls in the Northwest--there was much competition to provide the loan. However, competitors apparently could not overcome a very strong relationship between Cigna and L.J. Melody.
When L.J. Melody began buying up companies during the 1990s, they looked for the Cigna correspondent in each market. So when Kemper Development chose L.J. Melody to source the loan, it was likely Cigna would be a strong contender. As well, Makar is a former Cigna employee and Cigna, as mentioned, already held the existing loan.
James Melby of Kemper Development did not return a Wednesday phone call seeking comment on the loan-to-value ratio, the amount of the loan that was paid off and whether or not any extra funds will be used to further improvements to the mall.
One improvement in the works includes plans by Kemper to trade a 3.7-acre lot located catty corner from the mall for a two-acre site directly across from the mall that currently holds a Safeway. The Safeway would move to the larger site where it would anchor a mixed-use development, while Kemper would use the smaller site to link a new development back to the mall.
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