Medical Office Build Scores $32M

TARZANA, CA—A developer has secured a $32.3 million construction loan for the development of Ventana Medical Plaza, an 112,500-square-foot, four-story medical office facility. The class-A property is already 70% pre-leased to a tenant mix that includes national outpatient imaging center, RadNet Inc. The development will break ground October 8, and construction is scheduled to complete in 2016.

A Hong Kong-based lending institution funded the loan. It has a two-year term with a LIBOR 30. Geoffrey Arrobio, an SVP at Johnson's Capital in the firm's Downtown Los Angeles office, secured the funds on behalf of the borrower, an unnamed developer. “This is the first major development for the borrower and having to secure a “club” lender to participate in the funding before the loan was committed was challenging.” He was able to secure funding because of the property's location and preleasing.

Located at Ventura Boulevard and Lindley Avenue in Ventura, the property will be LEED certified. CW Driver is serving as the general contractor, and will build the property with modern architecture. Additionally, the property will include a pharmacy. This is the first new medical office development to be built in the area in the past 20 years.

“We are seeing are developers finding those specific locations where the commercial and multifamily assets are underserved in that community and are risking the time and effort it takes to put projects like this together with the local municipality,” says Arrobio. “You are seeing more construction loans getting done since there has been a lack of building in certain locations and demand is out stripping supply providing solid fundamentals for construction.”