While some were predicting the death of commercial mortgage-backed securities as early as 2008, at least one conduit loan has recently turned up in hell, of all places-or, at least Hell’s Kitchen. The Meridian Capital Group, the commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, successfully negotiated a $6.55 million conduit loan on behalf of the owner of a 10,800-square-foot retail condo in the heart of the Hell’s Kitchen.
The company, Chatham 44 Commercial Associates, obtained the relatively scarce financing for a retail condo at 604-610 10th Avenue, which houses a Dunkin Donuts, a wine and spirits retailer, and the Peruvian restaurant Pio Pio, among others. The proceeds of the new loan, which was provided by Citigroup Global Markets, are being used to retire the property’s existing financing, said Jonathan Stern, the director in Meridian’s New York headquarters who negotiated this transaction alongside Ronnie Levine, a managing director.
“We quickly capitalized on the reduction in minimum loan size in the conduit market for our client, who would have otherwise been limited to local and regional banks for this transaction,” Mr. Stern said. “The heavy competition among conduit lenders allowed us to maximize loan proceeds by leveraging the high-quality of the property, an experienced sponsor, the strong tenants, and the New York location.”
