BROOMFIELD, CO-Level 3, a once-high-flying telecommunications company based in this city along the Northwest corridor between Denver and Boulder, recently received a $70-million loan for its class A office campus where it has its world headquarters. Level 3 received the loan from CBRE Melody and carries a 6.86% interest rates, according to documents filed with the SEC. It carries a term of five years with one year of interest only followed by a 30-year amortization. Financing for the property, located at 1025 Eldorado Blvd., was provided by CBRE Realty Finance Management.

"CBRE Melody was chosen to represent Level 3 as a result of our broad market reach and CBRE's close relationship with Level 3 in providing their facility management services," says Eric Tupler, senior director in Melody's Denver office. The campus, built in 2000, is comprised of four, four-story office buildings with a total of more than 845,000 sf.

SEC documents obtained by GlobeSt.com show that on June 9, 2000, Level 3 entered into a $120-million floating-rate loan providing secured, non-recourse debt on its world quarters. Level 3 received $119 million of net proceeds after transaction costs. The lender as a reserve deposit was holding $13 million of the net proceeds, and $5 million is being separately held by the company as restricted cash, according to the SEC documents.

Tupler explains that Level 3 was looking to refinance its agreement with its original lender. When it could not reach an agreement, it used cash to pay off the balance of the loan, about $116 million. It then turned to CBRE Melody because Tupler had approached them before. "I call it a refinance because paying off their loans was such a recent phenomenon," Tupler tells GlobeSt.com. "Technically, it probably is not a refinance because it is a new loan against their collateral."

He estimates the real estate in today's market is worth $95 million to $100 million, and the Northwest market is getting better every day, Tupler notes. Level 3 occupies about 80% of the space and uses the remaining 20% for special projects, he says.