JPMorgan backs Saudi firm’s Texas acquisition

JPMorgan Chase has provided a $70 million acquisition loan on the 326,335 sq ft Austin Centre mixed-use building in Austin, Texas.

The loan was secured by the Saudi investment firm Sidra Capital, which purchased the property from Lincoln Property Company, county records show. Sidra reportedly paid $130 million for the property, bringing the financing’s loan-to-value to 53.8 percent. Eastdil Secured arranged the deal.

The 16-story building at 701 Brazos Street in downtown Austin includes an Omni Hotel, luxury suites and offices with tenants that include Capital Factory, E.ON, Netspend Corporation, and Thompson Coe Cousins, according to Real Capital Analytics. The property is 91 percent occupied as of this month.

Lincoln Property purchased the property from a joint venture between Walton Street Capital and Oaktree Capital for $76.5 million in April 2013, while the building was constructed in 1986.

JPMorgan has provided the Saudi company with several financings so far this year, including a $98 million acquisition loan on a trophy office building in San Francisco, California last month. The bank had $1.7 trillion assets under management at the end of the first quarter 2016.

Earlier this month, Sidra reportedly acquired the Madison Office Building in Washington, DC, from Jamestown Properties for $34.87 million. The company currently manages more than SAR 2.1 billion (USD $559.9 million) in alternative investments, according to its website.