Loans Finance Hotel, Storage Properties

Chris Renard, a principal of Commercial Realty Consultants Inc. who arranged the refinancing for the hotel, reports that the borrower was First Huntington LP. The Plaza at Huntington Beach is at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Warner Avenue. The 275,341-sf property includes a 14-story office tower, a retail strip, two free-standing restaurants a free-standing health club and a six-story parking structure. The parent of First Huntington LP is 3D Investments, a privately held real estate company that has completed transactions valued in excess of $2.5 billion. IXIS Real Estate Capital, formerly CDC Mortgage Capital, is the US commercial real estate financing affiliate of IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank of Paris.

Chris Grey, managing director of Crestridge Investments, reports that it provided $5.6 million in mezzanine financing to Williams Storage Portfolio III Management LLC for the acquisition of a 600,000-sf portfolio of self-storage properties located in several western states. The portfolio "has not been well managed, so it offers an opportunity for the new owner to increase net income by applying its expertise to improve the properties and reposition them in their respective markets," Grey says. Crestridge provides mezzanine and equity lending to proven local owners and developersin select markets. Recently, the firm launched one of the first programs offering venture capital to real estate and related companies, including predevelopment financing for real estate companies pursuing entitlements in urban neighborhoods.