IRVINE, CA-Norris, Beggs & Simpson Financial Services has arranged a $35-million refinance loan for Von Karman Plaza, a 241,539-square-foot retail property here, on behalf of Harsch Investment Corp., the underlying borrower of Von Karman LLC. ING Investment Management of Atlanta is the lender.

NBS president Ken Griggs and finance officer Paddy Ryan negotiated the transaction and were able to structure a favorable refinance, locking in a low interest rate for a 10-year term and 30-year amortization with an attractive level of proceeds to meet the borrower's needs. “Even though there was a considerable vacancy, ING Investment Management was attracted to the borrower's efforts to reposition the property and its leasing efforts to date,” says Griggs. “ING was confident that the borrower would fill the remaining vacancy.”

Prior to the refinancing, the center was in the midst of repositioning itself due to several retailers vacating large blocks of space, including Sam's Club. After major renovations and reintroduction of the property to the market, the borrower was able to bring in new anchor tenants, including Walmart, filling up a majority of the property's vacancy.

At the time of funding, a block of unoccupied space remained, but ING had confidence in filling the outstanding occupancy and was able to structure a solution. The owner seized the opportunity to refinance, which then would help fund the final renovations.

As GlobeSt.com reported last week, Pat Donahue, chairman and CEO of Donahue Schriber, told us a lack of new shopping-center development will continue, so developers should concentrate on redevelopment of existing inventory. While some investors are “dusting off things from the shelf, it will take a year or two to get those things under construction, so there's a limited supply in the short term,” Donahue says.