WOODLAND HILLS, CA—The owner of a retail and office property has secured $19.3 million in financing though a first-mortgage loan. Located at 6325 & 6355 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, CA, the 164,312-square-foot property is occupied mainly by Fleming's & Roy's. The name of the borrower was not released.

A CMBS lender funded the loan at a competitive rate with a 10-year interest-only term. The ability to meet these terms attracted the borrower to the CMBS lender. “The borrower secured the funds to retire its existing debt, and kept additional cash for internal uses,” David Blum, an SVP at Northmarq Capital, tells GlobeSt.com. “A CMBS lender was the preferred choice because we were able to secure the loan at a competitive rate with 10-years interest only.” Blum secured the funds on behalf of the borrower, along with EVP and managing director Michael Elmore. Both Elmore and Blum are based in the Los Angeles office.

Although the borrower was able to secure favorable terms for the loan, the transaction did come with some challenges. “Older office is not considered a favorable product type,” says Blum. “We offset this challenge by having both Flemings & Roy's as higher-end restaurant space in addition to not being a full leverage loan request.”

Although this is an older office building, NorthMarq still received strong competition for the funding. “The CMBS market is becoming ever-increasingly aggressive,” Blum explains. “Many of NorthMarq's CMBS relationships were interested in the transaction with full-term interest only. CMBS is back in full force.” 

In addition to strong tenancy, the property is also located in an active submarket, where the strong office market has created an increasing demand for multifamily housing. Illustrating the high demand, Wood Partners recently sold its recently built 298-unit multifamily complex, Alta Warner Center for an estimated $70 million. The property has 80% to 90% occupancy.