WASHINGTON, DC-The JBG Cos., a 46-year-old, DC-based real estate investment and development firm, obtained a $242-million refinancing package for L'Enfant Plaza which comprises 890,648 sf of office and retail, a 1,600-stall parking garage and a 370-room, full-service hotel. The property is in the southwest quadrant of the city, near the National Mall.

The two-tranche structure of the deal includes a five-year, $172.5-million fixed-rate loan and a $69.5-million floating rate loan on the developer's five-asset portfolio.

JBG managing director James Iker says his firm reviewed presentations from several lenders but chose the Washington, DC office of GE Real Estate because of GE's understanding of the financial complexities involved with the property. "For this deal, we required a sophisticated lender that understood the capital requirements of repositioning a large, mixed-use portfolio," Iker says. "GE Real Estate was able to work through the many subtleties associated with L'Enfant Plaza to successfully complete a very complicated transaction."

Ed Coco, senior managing director GE Real Estate's North American lending division, calls the transaction "a great opportunity for GE to use our balance sheet on a very complicated structured finance transaction, while partnering with an established local developer that owns an exceptional history of success in this very competitive market."

Andy McLay, a senior director in GE's North American lending division, says the transaction was "a game-changer" for GE Real Estate's DC office. "Our ability to balance sheet a $242-million mixed-use property demonstrates our flexibility and our willingness to handle complex structures on large transactions and our desire to be a top lender in the market."

Bob Donhauser, senior managing director with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, brokered the transaction. "GE's ability to handle the complicated structure and varied asset types such as hotel, office and retail on this transaction gave them the competitive edge to be chosen as lender for L'Enfant Plaza," Donhauser says. "This, combined with their ability to balance sheet the entire $242-million loan, gave them a competitive advantage in the market place."