FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-In an unusual refinance deal, Gateway Centre in Lighthouse Point has secured $6.4 million in discounted payoff, or DPO, financing. The deal has several twists and turns that signals how the capital markets have shifted.

Howard Taft, senior managing director and Charles Penan, director of Miami-based Aztec Group, arranged the financing. Penan tells GlobeSt.com the property was acquired several years ago with an acquisition loan from Washington Mutual Bank before the US Office of Thrift Supervision seized it and placed it into receivership in June of 2008.

“The loan was sold several times," Penn explains. "JP Morgan sold all the notes in one pool, and Gateway Centre was 100% performing. Gateway got about a 10% discount off the face value of the note to close by the end of the year.”

Located at 2000 East Sample Road, Gateway Centre 37,024 square-foot, two-story, mixed-use property anchored by Bonefish Mac Restaurant and One Investment Group. Terms of the five-year facility include a 75% loan-to-value ratio, 25-year amortization schedule and a LIBOR-based floating interest rate. Penan says BankUnited financed about 95% of the DPO. Many lenders would only lend about 80% of the DPO.

“Factor in reduced interests costs and lower principal balance, the new facility arranged for Gateway Centre will result in tremendous annualized savings for the Owners,” Taft said in a statement. “The new financing truly exceeded our client’s expectations.”

Gateway Centre is a Class A retail and office building constructed in 2006. The asset is 95% occupied, with only one retail space left on the first floor and a medical office space on the second floor.

As Penan sees it, the terms of this transaction speak to the strength of both ownership and the asset itself: “The refinancing of Gateway Centre is another sign that high quality, income-generating properties backed by stable owners are ripe for favorable financing terms in today’s market.”