Mesa West Capital has completed the first transactions in its newly launched special situations lending platform. The new lending platform is the next evolution for the firm's lending capabilities, providing rescue capital, mezzanine and preferred equity up to $100 million.

In the first deals under the platform, Mesa West funded $47 million in two deals located in Chicago and San Diego. In the Chicago deal, LaSalle Investment Management secured a $37 million mezzanine loan to refinance and stabilize a 30-story, 549,000-square foot class-A office building in Chicago's West Loop. La Salle acquired the property in 2017 and has completed a multimillion renovation and increased the occupancy to 69%.

In San Diego, the firm provided a $10 million mezzanine loan to a joint venture between Montana Avenue Capital Partners and Arsenale SGR for the sale/lease-back of a four-building flex portfolio in San Diego. The seller/tenant in the transaction was Millennium Health. Both the San Diego and Chicago deals included first mortgage loans originated by Wells Fargo Bank. Keith Largay of JLL in Chicago arranged the financing on behalf of LaSalle Investment Management, and Aldon Cole of JLL's San Diego office arranged the financing on the Millennium Health sale/leaseback.