LAS VEGAS-A new healthcare-related project here and a single-tenant retail property have been financed in two recently closed loans, with the single-tenant financing managing to close in 30 days from start to finish despite some unusual twists. The healthcare project loan included $6 million in construction and permanent financing via Newmark Realty Capital Inc. for a to-be-built 38-room, 28,870-square-foot freestanding transitional rehabilitation facility here. The other was a $5.5 million refinancing provided by Los Angeles-based Dominion Mortgage Corp. and Dominion America Realty Advisors on a single-tenant retail building and an associated long-term leasehold interest in Reno.

The rehabilitation facility is leased to a single-tenant operator on a long-term basis. Upon completion, it will be one of several operated by the tenant in the region. The facilities are designed for patients recovering from acute health problems such as mild strokes and hip replacements.

The developer was represented by Demetri Koston, and Chris Funai, both vice presidents at Newmark, who arranged the financing through a bank. In addition to securing the construction loan, the Newmark VPs arranged a mini-permanent loan to take out the construction loan upon project completion. Other specific terms of the loan were not disclosed.

In the deal arranged by Dominion Mortgage Corp., which is a subsidiary of Dominion Corp., Dominion provided the funding for what it calls a unique transaction, which entailed wrapping the existing first trust deed of $3.7 million with additional mezzanine debt of $1.8 million. The borrower, a California-based family-owned trust, acquired the 15,067-square-foot, single-tenant building in 2004. The structure was originally constructed in 1991 and is currently leased on a long-term, NNN basis to a national, investment-grade retail chain.

A challenging twist to the financing was that the building was constructed over a public highway in airspace that is leased from the Nevada Department of Transportation, thereby creating the unique double-leasehold nature to the transaction. The borrower acquired the leasehold interest to the airspace as part of the building purchase.

Dominion executive vice president Keith Olson, who structured the complicated transaction, noted that the short-term financing does not have any pre-payment penalty, nor does it require any impounds for taxes or insurance. The loan carries a fixed-rate of 12%, interest-only, through 2013 and includes extension options.

The financing provides the borrower cash-out funds to acquire an additional investment as well as considerable time to sell this property. The borrower is a sophisticated investor who maintains a portfolio of approximately 300,000 square feet of retail properties, all on the West Coast.

“We were able to meet the client’s time frame by closing in 30 days, thereby allowing the borrower to pull-out cash needed for another investment elsewhere,” commented Olson. “The new loan also left the borrower with the flexibility to sell the Reno property to the strongest buyer when the right opportunity presents itself over the next few years.”