CINCINNATI—HFF recently secured $165 million in construction financing for Liberty Center, a 626,791-square-foot retail development located at the I-75 and SR 129 interchange just north of Cincinnati. The company worked on behalf of the developers, Bucksbaum Retail Properties, LLC and Steiner + Associates, along with financial partner Mount Kellett Capital Management LP, securing the loan through a single capital source.
Chicago-based Bucksbaum and Columbus-based Steiner have launched the region's largest on-going mixed-use development. In addition to retail, it will feature more than 75,000-square-feet of office space, 241 residential units and, as reported in GlobeSt.com, a 130-room AC Marriott hotel, all spanning about 65 acres. And Dillard's will complete a two-story flagship department store with 200,000-square-feet to anchor the center. The project has already secured a number of national retailers including Dick's Sporting Goods, Kona Grill and Cheesecake Factory.
Along with its partners the Georgetown Co. and Limited Brands, Steiner also recently broke ground on Easton Gateway, a 54-acre addition to its Easton Town Center in Columbus, which will have more than 500,000-square-feet of retail and about 40,000-square-feet of office-above-retail space.
The HFF team was led by New York-based managing director Michael Gigliotti and Chicago-based director Daniel Kaufman.
“This project represents possibly the most significant ground-up retail development of the current real estate cycle, anywhere in the US,” Kaufman says. “The sponsorship team came together to realize an incredible vision, combining the development and retail expertise of Steiner and Bucksbaum, with the capital markets strength of Mount Kellett. All signs point to a very successful project, and one that will be very important for Cincinnati.”
“The lender was able to provide a comprehensive construction financing solution for the development project,” Gigliotti adds. “The sponsors recognized this particular lender's ability to navigate through complex structuring issues, including a public financing component, several different retail buildings and parking structures, and the office, apartment, and hotel components, all of which are integrated but being developed separately.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
