Located on Stevens Creek Boulevard at Finch Avenue, betweenCupertino Square Mall (formerly Vallco Fashion Park) and Interstate280, the property is considered of the largest undeveloped infillsites in Cupertino. "It's one of those undisputed,hole-in-the-doughnut kind of sites," CBRE senior vice presidentDonald Polishuk, who arranged the financing with CBRE Capitalmarkets EVP John Nelson, tells GlobeSt.com.

Without that kind of site and without the reputation of theoperating partner (Sand Hill) and the co-investor (PREI), closingthe financing on the property would have proven much more difficultin the prevailing real estate credit markets, Polishuk says. "Banksare being very conservative while they try to get a handle on anypotential losses and the direction of the commercial mortgagebacked security (CMBS) market," he says. "The uncertainty in thesecondary loan market has resulted in significantly higher loanspreads and more conservative underwriting, including requiring notonly that developers and buyers put more equity into their dealsbut also that the developers and buyers themselves have anextremely solid track record. With strong sponsors and projectswith solid fundamentals we are continuing to get deals done despitethe turbulence in the credit markets"

Prior to Sand Hill, Pennsylvania home builder Toll Brothers Inc.and local partner Keenan & Bariteau had sought to build 380condominiums and 113,000 sf of new retail shop space on the site,which totaled 25 acres at the time. The Cupertino City Councilapproved the project in March 2006 but folks against the projectobtained enough signatures to put the necessary rezone on theballet and voters shot it down in November of that year.