FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Fractured condo projects are fewer and further between, but deals are still getting done. And lenders are willing to make bets.

Aztec Group, a Miami-based real estate investment and merchant banking firm, secured $7.5 million in debt financing for The Atriums of Somerset III, Buildings P & Q, a multifamily complex in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Aztec's senior managing director Howard Taft and director Charles Penan led the transaction.

"This was a very challenging and highly-structured transaction, where we carefully arranged terms that fit our client's needs," says Taft. Basis Investment Group, a New York-based conduit lender, offered the financing.

The 10-year term, 75% loan-to-value, non-recourse, fixed rate facility carries a favorable interest rate of 4.8%. Terms also include three years of interest-only payments and 30-year amortization schedule.

Developed in 1982 by an affiliate of Somerset P&Q, GP, The Atriums at Somerset III is a four-building, 288-unit residential condominium located at 2725 Somerset Drive in Fort Lauderdale. Of the four residential buildings, P & Q, which represent half of the units, have operated as rental apartments since the residential project was completed. These two buildings were encumbered by this loan.

"Securing financing for a fractured condo project was no easy task," says Penan. "However, Aztec was able to arrange financing terms that truly exceeded our client's expectations."