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WASHINGTON, DC-Plans for CityVista have taken a step forward now that a $160-million financing deal for the construction of the 840,000-sf mixed-use project has closed. The entire project carries an estimated price tag of approximately $210 million.

The CityVista project is a public-private endeavor and involves a team led by Lowe Enterprises consisting of the National Capital Revitalization Corp., Bundy Development Corp., the Neighborhood Development Co. and CIM Group. CityVista will occupy a 3.2-acre parcel on part of a site that had been home to the city's Wax Museum. The project will feature 129,900 sf of retail, 244 apartments, 441 condominiums--20% of which will be set aside as affordable housing--and parking to accommodate nearly 800 vehicles.

J. Tyler Blue, Patricia Earnest, James Gurley and Philip Rachels of Walker & Dunlop orchestrated a non-recourse, four-year interest-only loan on behalf of the borrower. According to Walker & Dunlop, benefits of the financing included the enhancement of returns on equity through the permitting of a pari passu deferral of a segment of the total equity investment, and the benchmarking of overall loans to value/cost for the establishment of early ongoing releases of condo sales proceeds.