Mesa West Capital has provided an affiliate of The EMMES Group of Companies a USD130 million in first mortgage debt to recapitalise 1 Columbia Place, a 556,000-square-foot Class A office complex in Downtown San Diego.
A majority of the proceeds from the five-year, non-recourse loan will be used to refinance the CMBS loan Emmes assumed when it acquired the 27-story high rise in 2012. Funds have also been earmarked for additional leasing costs and to continue EMMES’s capital improvement program that will complete a USD20 million renovation and repositioning of the re-named Columbia Center located at 401 W A Street.
“EMMES acquired an iconic building and transformed it into one of the most desirable places to work in Downtown San Diego,” says Mesa West Principal Steve Fried (pictured) who led the origination team for Mesa West. “The building is approximately 80 per cent leased and with the majority of the vacancy on full upper floors, the asset is well positioned to take advantage of the significant recent renovation and strong location in one of Downtown San Diego’s key growth corridors.”
With the financing of 1 Columbia Place, Mesa West has deployed approximately USD600 million in short-term first mortgage debt in the last two months for the acquisition or recapitalisation of hotel, office and multifamily assets located in New York, San Diego, Chicago, Palm Beach and Washington, DC.
R Mark Williams and Jack Cheng in Eastdil Secured’s Orange County and Los Angeles offices arranged the financing.
