San Fernando Valley Apartment Developments Score $238M in Financing
Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bank and California Bank & Trust provided the loans.
By Greg Cornfield July 24, 2023 6:40 pm
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A developer building 723 units in Los Angeles’ Warner Center has secured financing to back the mixed-use projects, The Real Deal reported.
The Shawn Evenhaim-run Balaciano Group, formerly known as California Home Builders, is the sponsor on two loans. Morgan Stanley (MS) provided a $136.5 million loan for the 347-unit Q Topanga, at 6263 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, replacing a $90 million construction loan from U.S. Bank issued in 2019.
Separately, U.S. Bank and California Bank & Trust provided a $101.5 million construction loan for Balaciano’s 376-unit Q De Soto at 6109 De Soto Avenue, which is currently being built. It’s set to open in 2025 with 69,000 square feet of commercial space. Evenhaim bought the site for $16.1 million in 2017, records show.
“It’s all relationship-based lending now,” Evenhaim said, per TRD, referring to how lenders have scaled back amid rising interest rates.
Evenhaim’s firm started building homes in 1994. In 2016, after the City of L.A. passed Measure JJJ requiring developers to provide either affordable units or pay a fee, Balaciano switched to building large, mixed-use projects, according to TRD.
The master-planned Warner Center district north of Woodland Hills in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley has seen some of the strongest commercial real estate investment and development over the past five years. Most notably of late, the Kroenke Group has made at least $650 million in acquisitions in Warner Center, with plans to build a new headquarters for the L.A. Rams, along with two practice fields, hotels, dining or homes to surround it.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
