Feb 05, 2015

HFF arranges financing for Smith Tower

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HFF said it arranged financing and represented the seller in the sale of Smith Tower, which Unico Properties bought for $73.7 million last month.

HFF's Gerry Rohm, Nick Kucha and James Childress marketed the building for sale for the seller. Tom Wilson and Erica Christensen of HFF helped Unico secure a loan from a foreign bank.

Smith Tower is protected by both local and national landmark designations. The facade and many interior finishes have been preserved.

Unico plans some improvements, including to the elevators, lobby, restrooms, and the Observation Deck and Chinese Room on top.

NAIOP talking hotels

The hotel construction boom will be the focus of the Washington chapter of NAIOP's breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. Feb. 11 at Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 1400 Sixth Ave. Andrew Olsen of Columbia Hospitality will moderate a panel that includes Tom Norwalk, president and CEO at Visit Seattle; Chris Burdett, senior vice president at CBRE; and Carla Murray, senior vice president at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. For more information, or to register for the event, visit: http://www.naiopwa.org/breakfast-meetings

Mortgage refinancing site comes to Washington

Lenda, a website that allows homeowners to refinance mortgages online, is now available in Washington. Previously, the site only covered California. Lenda says it eliminates the middleman in mortgage refinancing, the same way TurboTax does for taxes. Lenda has closed $25 million in refinancing loans since October. Lenda says it can close loans faster and with lower interest rates than traditional refinancing sources.

Jan 29, 2015

Decatur Building refinanced

Photo courtesy of NorthMarq Capital [enlarge]

Alibaba has an office in the Decatur Building.

Stuart Oswald of NorthMarq Capital's Seattle office arranged $16.5 million in refinancing for the Decatur Building at 1511 Sixth Ave. in Seattle.

The Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba recently opened an office there and Synapse Product Development is also a major tenant.

Retail tenants include Mario's, Morton's The Steakhouse and Bocz Salon.

NorthMarq Capital says it has a loan portfolio of more than $45 billion, and $12 billion in annual production.

Andrew Shook joins A10 Capital

Shook

A10 Capital of Boise has hired Andrew Shook as senior executive vice president in charge of originating new loans nationally. Shook has more than 20 years of real estate finance experience. He was part of the founding team of Resource Capital Corp, and he co-founded Ischus Capital Management with Resource America. Shook ran a multi-billion dollar portfolio at HSBC Bank, and he has held senior positions in Bank of America's US and European divisions. A10 says it is a non-bank, middle-market commercial real estate lender that focuses on bridge loans ranging from $1 million to $20 million.

CHH hires real estate director

Elkerton

Greg Elkerton will be Capitol Hill Housing's new director of real estate and impact investments. Elkerton has more than 15 years of development, financing and construction experience, specializing in affordable housing and mixed-use projects. Elkerton was a development consultant to Homestead Community Land Trust. He also managed housing development at Common Ground for nine years and at SouthEast Effective Development for four years. CHH owns 44 buildings housing more than 2,000 people.

CREW lunch on environmental issues

Commercial Real Estate Women Seattle & Sound will explore environmental issues in development — how to identify them and how to mitigate them — at its lunch meeting at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 12 at Washington Athletic Club. Speakers will be Ken Lederman of Foster Pepper and Elizabeth Rachman of Associated Earth Sciences. For information or to register visit: http://bit.ly/1z0bE0z

Land Advisors adds sales coordinator

Swanson

Land Advisors Organization added Morgan Swanson as sales and operations coordinator. Land Advisors recently established a presence in this area when it bought Bellevue-based Cameron Land Group. Land Advisors says it is the nation's largest brokerage focused solely on land, with offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah.