$35M Construction Financing Closes 191,000-SF Office

HERNDON, VA-A nearly $35.4-million financing package has closed for Monument Three at Worldgate, a 191,400-sf office building currently under construction. With the completion of Monument III slated for fourth quarter 2006, Monument Realty will have finished its fourth and final office facility in the 100-acre park.

Corus Bank, the banking arm of Chicago’s Corus Bankshares Inc., facilitated the loan for the construction of the building, which will cost a rumored amount in the neighborhood of $50 million to complete. The borrower is Monument Three LLC, an affiliate of Washington, DC-based Monument Realty LLC.

Carrying the address of 12930 Worldgate Dr., Monument Three occupies a three-acre parcel in the mixed-use business park, which sits off the Dulles Access Road. The class A building will also feature a six-level, 204,300-sf parking facility, as well as conference and administrative facilities within the office portion of the property.

Hickok Warner Cole is the architectural firm behind the design of the seven-story brick, glass and precast structure, while James G. Davis Construction Corp. is in charge of the construction. Monument’s Doug Olson, who is charged with handling leasing for Monument Three, tells GlobeSt.com that there are no preleasing agreements in place, explaining that it is a bit early for such activity since the company just broke ground on the building in June. However space will be marketed for about $35 per sf, he says.

Corus has worked with the real estate company in the past, having provided financing for one of the other Worldgate Office Park buildings, as well as a $70.8-million loan last year for construction of the luxury 320-unit Odyssey condominium tower in Arlington, a joint development endeavor between Monument Realty and Lehman Brothers. “This is our third deal with [Monument's] Jeff Neal and Michael Darby,” says Dwight Frankfather, Corus Bank first vice president. “They are very active developers and assiduous analysts of the DC market. They manage to be both aggressive and careful at the same time. We like the fine line they walk.”