Charlotte, NC-based Mountain Funding LLC provided the loan at an undisclosed rate of interest which area brokers tell GlobeSt.com is estimated to be in the 5% to 6% range.
The full-service gated resort is offering pre-construction prices of $276,000 for two-bedroom units; $308,000 for three bedrooms; and $339,000 for four bedrooms. Coldwell Banker broker associate Carol Coogan is handling sales. Construction is slated to begin this spring with occupancies starting in first quarter 2006.
"The fact that this project is ideally located between the successful Reunion and ChampionsGate communities, in a very hot market and it had significant reservations, were great attractions for us," says Arthur Nevid, managing director of investment and lending at Mountain Funding. "However, the challenge was that the borrower was not a true developer, and he was seeking high 93% all-in leverage."
Still, "Mountain's ability to respond quickly, be flexible in structure and utilize its local development affiliate to underwrite all development issues made this closing possible," adds Ray Wicken of Americap, the mortgage banker for the transaction.
The lender's main concern was that "the land acquisition was on a very short fuse," Wicken says. "So Mountain focused its due diligence efforts on underwriting and closing the land, knowing that certain construction conditions, like the admittance of an experienced developer partner and approval of construction contracts, would occur post-closing."
Blackwater Crossing LLC paid ChampionsGate $6 million, or $130,043 per acre (30 cents per sf), for the 46-acre site. When completed, ChampionsGate is expected to have 2,864 hotel rooms; 2,136 resort villas, condos, townhomes and apartments; 36 holes of golf; and 426,000 sf of retail.
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