Jan 05, 2012

Love Funding

Love Funding said it closed a $14 million refinancing for the Packard Building, a former Seattle car dealership on Capitol Hill that was converted to a 60-unit apartment complex. Peter Wessel of Love's Denver office secured the 35-year, non-recourse loan through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program. The Packard is owned by a limited liability company led by Dan Ederer of Seattle, which tried unsuccessfully to tap private sources for refinancing after completing the rehab. The project initially included 56 apartments, five office units and four retail spaces. Four of the office spaces were converted to apartments. Wessel worked with HUD to waive a rule against long-term FHA financing for properties less than 3 years old.

Emeritus

Emeritus, a Seattle-based provider of senior living services, appointed Mark A. Finkelstein as executive vice president, corporate development and general counsel. He was CEO at Novellus Capital Management LLC, and practiced law at the Seattle firm of Graham & Dunn. Emeritus operates 478 communities in 44 states.

Gardner to address economists

Seattle economist Matthew Gardner will speak about the commercial real estate industry at Wednesday's 11:30 a.m. lunch meeting of the Seattle Economics Council at Ivar's Acres of Clams, 1001 Alaskan Way. Register at http://tiny.cc/g6cm3.

NAIOP meeting on retail

Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group and Maria Royer of Real Retail will discuss the local retail market at NAIOP's 7:30 a.m. Jan. 18 meeting at the Sheraton Seattle, 1400 Sixth Ave. Register at http://tiny.cc/qhxwd.

Dec 29, 2011

Matrix Real Estate

Photo courtesy of Matrix Real Estate [enlarge]

Riverstone is a 100-unit condominium project in Bellevue.

A distressed, 100-unit Bellevue condo conversion project called Riverstone, 14122 S.E. Sixth St., has sold out. The marketing program included cultural training for sales agents to help them better understand buyers, many of whom were from the East Indian community. The project by Riverstone Limited Liability Co. went into receivership in the summer of 2009. The receiver hired Matrix Real Estate to market the project. At the time, 70 units were unsold. Matrix offered reduced pricing, but had to find financing for buyers with less than 20 percent for the down payment. Plus, the property was “shop worn” because it had been on the market for some time, Matrix officials said. The company recommended hiring contractor Dennis Willard of Project Control Consultants to complete the project. Matrix approached the construction lenders and negotiated a package of portfolio loans for the buyers with as little as 3.5 percent down. As units sold, the project obtained Federal Housing Administration approval, which allowed buyers to make minimum down payments and allowed the construction lenders to sell their portfolio loans. During early sales, Matrix noticed most buyers were from the East Indian community, so the company hired a real estate expert from the community to train members of the sales team. The average sales price was $263 per square foot, said Warren Ballard, Matrix senior developer representative.

Keller Williams Realty

Jodi Hill is a new agent at Keller Williams Realty's Seattle Metro West office in West Seattle. She specializes in luxury homes. She previously worked at John L. Scott.