Florida Beach Resort Gets $44M Loan For First Development Phase  

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Rendering of The Henderson, a Salamander Beach & Spa Resort.
Rendering of The Henderson, a Salamander Beach & Spa Resort.

Avison Young’s capital markets group secured a $44 million construction loan from Bank of the Ozarks for phase one of a resort development along Florida’s panhandle, Mortgage Observer Weekly has first learned.

Called The Henderson, a Salamander Beach & Spa Resort, the 171-room luxury hotel at 2700 Resort Way in Destin, Fla., is expected to open in the spring of 2016. The groundbreaking commenced in January 2014.

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The estimated project cost exceeds $300 million, according to the website of the property’s owner, Dunavant Enterprises.

The loan’s proceeds will be used for the first phase of construction—which includes development on the anchor hotel and a conference center—in progress now. Financing for the first phase of development includes an EB-5 component of about $50 million, according to Avison Young.

The full project will require four additional phases, which may include the addition of separate 95-room beachfront hotel and nearly 200 luxury condominiums, according to the sponsor’s website.

Resort amenities will include a spa, fitness room, restaurant, poolside grill and ice cream shop. Dunavant also owns the Henderson Park Inn, which shares the same street address. The 35-suite inn will remain open to guests, according to a press release from the sponsor.

David Eyzenberg and Amanda Saltzman of Avison Young negotiated the debt deal.

“Because the property is located in a non-primary market and includes an EB-5 component with ongoing fundraising efforts, the sponsor was required to implement a pari-passu funding structure with the lender,” said Mr. Eyzenberg in a prepared statement. “We worked closely with the lender to develop a creative financing solution that enabled the lender to engage in a pari-passu funding structure without additional cash requirements from the sponsor.”

Representatives for Dunavant and Salamander did not return requests for comment by publication time.