BWE, a national commercial and multifamily mortgage banking company, announced today that it has secured a $20,000,000 bridge loan to finance the redevelopment of an 85,000 square foot Sears outparcel building, adjacent to the Marketplace at Merced shopping mall located in Merced, California.
Mike Guterman, senior vice president in BWE’s Los Angeles office, secured the 30-month bridge loan with a 70% loan-to-cost ratio from a debt fund on behalf of Citivest Commercial Investments, LLC, an Orange County-based retail owner-operator.
“When seeking financing solutions for the Sears building in Merced, we evaluated going with a higher-leverage, higher-cost bridge loan, but ultimately, we pivoted to a lower-cost, lower-leverage loan. This option proved more palatable to the equity market and more amenable to the borrower,” said Guterman. “BWE continues to leverage its comprehensive suite of capital solutions to enable our partners to improve and maintain our country’s retail facilities.”
The redevelopment will see a gut rehabilitation of the property, as well as the addition of two new pad sites totaling 6,164 square feet. The property is 100% pre-leased with tenants including Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Petco, Rack Room, and Burlington Coat Factory.
The property, adjacent to the bustling Marketplace at Merced shopping center, is located directly off California State Route 59. The City of Merced is situated in the San Joaquin Valley and is approximately 55 miles from the major city of Fresno.