Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC, the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment Inc., closed $68.8 million in loans during the month of November for four deals: a central business district office building and a single- tenant office building in the Cincinnati area, and a retail shopping center and a big-box retail property in the Dayton area.
The deals include:
• Atrium Two (Cincinnati), a $55.5 million permanent loan for a multi-tenant CBD office building totaling 655,270 square feet. Anchored by Cincinnati Bell and by Kroger’s recently relocated IT division, the property is one of downtown’s premier properties.
Bob Pearson, senior vice president of Bellwether Enterprise based in the Cincinnati office, arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, a Canadian-based partnership that has several million square feet of space throughout the Midwest.
The lender was Deutsche Bank, one of Bellwether Enterprise’s leading commercial mortgage-backed securities lenders that has now funded over $530 million in loans for Bellwether Enterprise since the beginning of 2017. The loan financed the acquisition of the property and will also accommodate additional Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing so that the new owner can make additional energy-efficient improvements. Bellwether will retain the primary servicing of the loan after closing.
The acquisition of Atrium Two is the largest office property acquisition in Cincinnati in 2018.
• Western Row Corporate Campus (Mason, Ohio), a $4.3 million permanent loan for a single tenant office building totaling 41,386 square feet. The building is located at the Western Row interchange along Interstate 71, which is currently being expanded.
Pearson arranged this loan on behalf of the borrower, a Cincinnati-based ownership group with decades of development experience in the market. The lender was Protective Life, one of Bellwether Enterprise’s correspondent life insurance companies. The owners had recently executed an expansion by the anchor tenant to take up the entire building and the new loan enabled the owners to eliminate the recourse of their former bank loan and fix a competitive interest rate on a long term basis.
• Springboro Pike Retail (Moraine, Ohio), a $3 million permanent loan for a multi-tenant retail shopping center totaling 60,000 square feet. The property is located on a busy thoroughfare in the South Dayton area near several centers anchored by national retailers.
Pearson arranged this loan on behalf of the borrower, led by Schuermann Properties. The borrower is a Cincinnati-based ownership group with extensive experience in retail leasing and development. The lender was Innovative Capital Advisors (ICA), one of Bellwether Enterprise’s correspondent life insurance companies. The owners had purchased the property just one year earlier with recourse bank financing. They completed substantial capital improvements and repairs, extended existing leases, and increased the occupancy from 60 percent to 100 percent. The ICA loan enabled the borrower to eliminate their recourse, establish a competitive rate, and pull substantial equity back out of the project.
• Lowe’s (Centerville, Ohio), a $6 million permanent loan for a single-tenant big box retail store totaling 128,508 square feet. The property is located in one of the major retail trade corridors in Dayton.
Pearson arranged this nonrecourse loan on behalf of the borrower, a Dayton-based retail developer that has developed dozens of big box retail stores throughout the Midwest. The lender was American Fidelity Assurance Company, one of Bellwether Enterprise’s correspondent life insurance companies. Bellwether Enterprise had previously financed another one of the borrower’s properties on a long-term loan through American Fidelity and after just four years, the borrower received an attractive offer to sell. Bellwether Enterprise worked with the borrower and the lender on a creative solution to provide new financing on the Lowe’s in exchange for the lender agreeing to waive a substantial prepayment penalty on the other property and complete the sale.
