TEMPE, AZ-The $280 million acquisition of Tempe Marketplace is notable for its size – it’s one of the largest retail deals to close this year – but it also indicates the CMBS market has returned. A joint venture comprised of Vestar Development Co. and Rockwood Capital hooked a $200 million CMBS loan from Deutsche Bank to buy the 1.3-million-square-foot retail property.

“When we started the process [of getting a loan], we felt the chances of doing a CMBS deal would be slim because only a few deals had been done,” says Vestar President Rick Kuhle. The venture worked with Eastdil Secured’s Los Angeles office to find debt financing.

“To Eastdil’s credit, they said CMBS lenders were in the market and would bid aggressively to get this business,” Kuhle tells GlobeSt.com. “We were somewhat doubtful, but they brought us several CMBS proposals; the amount of interest surprised us. We were happily surprised.”