ROSSLYN, VA-After months of deliberating and testing the market fundamentals,
 Monday Properties has decided to move forward with its trophy office 
development here. It plans to break ground on 1812 N. Moore St., a 
$300-million, 35-story tower that will be designed to Platinum LEED
 standards, in mid-October. The building is expected to deliver in fall 2013.

The timing is understandable despite the current economic malaise:
 Rosslyn has the fortunate distinction of being one of the few
submarkets in the US where office rents are actually rising and there
is a healthy demand for office space, even premium product.

The company doesn’t have any pre-leases signed yet, but is highly
confident it will in short order, Anthony Westreich, president and CEO
 of Monday Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. “We are talking with five
 prospects right now--if they all sign on, we will have the building 
fully leased.” Monday has retained Susan Carras and Steven A. Kohn at
 Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman LLC to secure construction 
financing for the project.

Westreich says that other news accounts of
 the groundbreaking inaccurately portrayed Monday has having sought out 
construction financing already, and coming up empty handed.
 Carras and Kohn will begin seeking financing this week.

Meanwhile, Monday is kicking in $30 million of its own
 money to get the project moving.
 The construction finance market has, clearly, been very quiet if not
 outright dead during the depth of the recession. Kohn tells
 GlobeSt.com that it is beginning to recover, with liquidity returning 
“by the week.” This asset, in particular, is likely to 
attract lenders given its sponsorship, the strong submarket and the direction of rental rates.

All that said, the construction financing is still tenuous, with loan-to-cost ranging anywhere from 50% to 70%, Kohn says, and
 pricing anywhere from 250 to 300 basis points over Libor. Lenders aren’t holding as much debt on their balance sheets,
 Kohn says, which means it is more likely that a syndication group will be 
used.

 

NOT FOR REPRINT

© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.