Save the date: RealShare Apartments comes to the Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, October 24. In addition, ICSC RECON is coming up and GlobeSt.com has a month of special coverage in the works. Don't miss a bit of it. Click here for more information.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA-Over the last few months there has been an increase of commercial real estate lending activity due mainly to an increase in lenders willingness to lighten underwriting requirements. So says Mike Yim, a principal at Beverly Hills, CA mortgage banking firm Quantum Capital Partners, who recently chatted with GlobeSt.com on the subject.
According to Yim, the change comes as an unanticipated surprise after a long period of tight credit and it expresses an increase in faith by lenders of market fundamentals as well as a decrease in balance sheet concerns by those lenders. “Lenders are looking to lend again, they are looking at the real estate market as a source of revenue growth, and that’s great news for everyone,” he says.
Credit has especially loosened for non-institutional grade retail and office product, according to principal Jonathan Hakakha, also from Quantum Capital. For example, Hakakha recently needed only 10 days to close a five-year, $4.3-million purchase loan for a property at the intersection of Melrose and La Brea Avenues in Los Angeles. The property consists of a vacant lot and a two-story building that will be renovated and converted to retail and creative office space. Additionally, GlobeSt.com learns that Quantum recently arranged an $8.75-million loan for a Wal-Mart-anchored retail center in downtown Los Angeles, a $10.95-million multifamily loan in Torrance, CA, and a $17 million grocery anchored retail center in San Diego County.
Hakakha notes that the increase in liquidity is making it easier for property owners to fund new investment transactions for all property types. In addition, he says, property owners are now able to refinance assets that they were unable to finance in 2009 and 2010.
“We’re on pace to double our volume of financing from 2011 and that’s a direct result of the improved lending environment,” says Hakakha. “Lenders today are competing for deals and borrowers are able to benefit from the competition in the market place. The ease in underwriting is eliminating a final barrier to a healthy lending environment. This is great news for property owners seeking to take advantage of historically low rates.”
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
