BF Avery & Sons Ltd., which has its advertising firm Slingshot in two floors of the six-story building, secured a 10-year loan for the Awalt Building at 208 N. Market St. Bank of America's Dallas office provided the financing at a sub-6% fixed-rate interest to retire acquisition and construction financing with a local bank, Joseph N. Hevey Jr., managing director in Dallas for Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, tells GlobeSt.com.
Avery completed a top-to-bottom makeover on the 99-year-old building, bought four years ago with a hole in its roof and a known street haven for vagrants. Today, the building is 91% occupied by creditworthy tenants on five- and 10-year leases, Hevey says.
Avery's renovation opened 13,801 sf of street-level space for retail use, shared by Chipotle Mexican Grille and a deli, and earmarked the upper 48,365 sf for office users like the West End Association and Pinpoint Tools. The anchor is the owner's public relations and advertising firm.
Hevey says the refinancing, with an 80% loan-to-value ratio, went full circle in 90 days. He admits some lenders were put off by "the macro-market dynamics of the downtown," but a half dozen others stepped up for the deal. "Once the people realized this was a new building, that the only thing that remained that was old was the walls and the floors, we were able to get pretty good competition among the lenders," he says. "This building showed itself very well. The rent roll showed very well."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.