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PHILADELPHIA-One Penn Associates LP, the special purpose entity of New York City-based Realex Capital Corp., has obtained a $71-million refinancing of One Penn Center. According to public records, the owner acquired the building for nearly $57 million in December 2002 and subsequently undertaken significant renovation of the property.

CBRE Melody director Michael Sherman and analyst Efrat Sharon in the New York City office arranged the new funding, which has been provided by Lehman Brothers. The loan for the 665,000-sf office building at 1617 JFK Blvd. has a 10-year term, interest only for the initial six years. Without disclosing the interest rate, Sherman says "the dip in interest rates enabled the borrower to refinance at a most attractive rate." He credits the New York City-based lender with "a quick turnaround, without which the transaction could never have been accomplished." He says a confidentiality agreement is preventing him from providing additional details.

One Penn Center is a 20-story Art Deco structure completed in 1929 atop Suburban Station, one of three city-based Septa rail stations. It currently is 95% occupied. Among the tenants is the law firm of Naulty, Scaricamazza and McDevitt LLP. According to a second quarter report from the local office of Jones Lang LaSalle, the average quoted rent rate for class A office space in the Market Street West submarket is $24.75 per sf, the highest rate of the four Center City submarkets.