Mesa West hits $750m in Chicago originations with two rehab loans

Mesa West Capital has written $67.7 million in loans across two separate Chicago deals, bringing the lender’s total originations into the local market to $750 million.

A $37.5 million five-year floating-rate loan was provided to Highland Park-based Tucker Development to finance the developer and capital partner Acadia Realty Trust’s comprehensive renovation and repositioning of 10 vacant two- and four-story brick buildings in Chicago’s Fulton Market district, some of which date back to 1890. The developer acquired the approximately 91,000 sq ft portfolio in January 2016.

The buildings, which occupy nearly a full city block at Randolph and Sangamon Streets, are being rebranded as 900 West. Expected to be completed in the Spring of 2017, the property will feature approximately 45,000 sq ft of creative office space over 46,000 sq ft of street level and second story retail.

The loan marks Mesa West’s third loan in the Fulton Market submarket. One of those came in February of last year, when the lender provided Sterling Bay with $220 million to refinance 1KFulton, a 10-story, 535,000 sq ft, Google-anchored trophy office building in Chicago, Illinois.

“The Fulton Market submarket has continued to strengthen and attract quality office and retail tenants and is fulfilling the promise we saw 18 months ago when we financed Google’s regional headquarters building, a project that has transformed the area,” said Mesa West vice president Matthew Snyder, who heads originations out of the firm’s Chicago office. “Since announcing their plans, the sponsor has already received significant interest from a variety of office users and national, regional and local retailers.”

In a separate financing, Mesa West provided a joint venture led by locally based Golub & Company with $30.2 million in short-term financing for the acquisition of a 20-story multifamily project in Chicago’s Edgewater district. The floating-rate non-recourse loan is secured by Lake Shore Tower, located at 5600 N. Sheridan Road, and a portion of that loan’s proceeds will be used for a capital improvement program.       

Since opening the Chicago office in 2015, the Los Angeles-based balance sheet lender has originated approximately $750 million in short-term debt for the acquisition, refinancing and/or repositioning of assets in the area. In addition to the $220 million financing for 1K Fulton, Mesa West’s Chicago lending portfolio also includes a $210 million loan to the Hearn Company to refinance the office and parking component of The John Hancock Center.