GE Capital makes $81m bridge loan

GE Capital Real Estate provided GH Palmer Associates with an $81m bridge loan for the acquisition of a luxury multifamily community in Montclair, California.

The five-year, interest only loan carries a 3.23 percent rate plus the one-month LIBOR. The loan-to-value was 75 percent.

The asset, The Paseos at Montclair North, is a 385-unit luxury multifamily community situated on 15.4 acres in the Inland Empire region of Montclair, which is about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.

The interim bridge loan was necessary as the property was “not yet fully stabilized at the time of sale,” said George Smith Partners principal Gary Tenzer, who arranged the financing

The deal, at closing, was one of the last financings completed before the announced sale of GE Capital in April, Tenzer noted.

While the sale means GE Capital will be phased out by the end of the year, and former employees have begun to trickle out to join new firms, it has up until now remained a formidable lending force.

“It’s pretty clear that these people are still working,” said one industry source. “These are hardworking people who have been there a long time. These aren’t Wall Street people accustomed to shopping their resumes around every year.”

The Paseos property consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom units that feature gas fireplaces, hardwood-style flooring, quartz countertops, and, rather appropriately, stainless-steel GE appliances.

Amenities including two pools, a fitness center and a central park with concert amphitheater. The property sits across from the Montclair Plaza mall and one block south of the Metrolink commuter rail.