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FORESTVILLE, MD-The books have closed on a $39 million financing deal for Penn Mar Shopping Center in Prince George's County. The loan allows property owner the Rappaport Cos. to take advantage of currently favorable interest rates and to recapitalize the shopping center.

IXIS Real Estate Capital Inc. provided the funds, which came in the form of a 10-year fixed rate loan. Penn Mar sits on a 38-acre parcel right off the Capital Beltway and close to the Forest Village Park Mall. Developed in 1959, the property underwent a renovation in 1996, and has since been expanded and upgraded.

"We have exceptionally strong ownership in Gary Rappaport," IXIS' Geoffrey S. Smith says of the president of Rappaport. "So what makes this great is that he's taken an asset, and over the last eight years, has really turned it around." Smith says Rappaport continues to put money back into the property and he's constantly improving the tenant base." Tenants at the shopping center include three anchors--Marshall's, Burlington Coat Factory and Shopper's Food Warehouse--as well as Petco and Staples, which signed a lease for 19,600 sf last year.