Apartments Get $31M to Go Condo

LOS ANGELES—AMI Real Estate has secured a $31 million loan to refinance existing debt on Universal Lofts, GlobeSt.com reports exclusively. The 67-unit live/work loft property was originally built as a condo community, but the developer decided to lease the project during the downturn. Now, with the recovered economy, AMI has decided to sell the units, and will use the additional to maintain the property during the marketing and sales process.

“This is really a small creative office campus of sorts with media and tech companies or companies relating to entertainment,” Shlomi Ronen, a founder and principal at Dekel Capital, tells GlobeSt.com. “You have a mix of tenants that use the units primarily as office space and others who use the units as office space and living quarters. The uniqueness of the use is that they were able to separate the living quarters from the office space so that someone could still have privacy on the third floor while still running a full business out of the lower levels. It is very unique product to L.A., but really fits in with how these more creative companies like to operate.” Ronen secured the funds on behalf of AMI Real Estate through a bank lender. 

The terms of the bridge loan were not disclosed, however, Ronen did tell us that the loan carries a three-year term, which is ample time for the developer to market and sell the units. AMI is selling the units for $890,000 to $1.2 million.

Financing for condo properties has been difficult in the past few years; however, the recovering economy has made lenders more open to condo communities. “There is such a dearth of product in L.A. that as soon as someone has built it and makes it available, there is a demand for it,” explains Ronen. “That is true for both residential condo and office condo, and this deal kind of straddles the two product types. This property was already established. They have had major studios renting out these units. Our work was really just introducing the product to lenders and helping them understand the uniqueness of the property.”