Offshore Bank Beats Out Life Co. for $80M Refi

WASHINGTON, DC-ING Real Estate has secured a $80 million non-recourseloan from an offshore lender for its McPherson Building, located at901 15th St. NW. Cassidy Turley’s David Webb, John Campanella and PhilMudd arranged the refinancing.

The 12-story, 252,834-square-foot office building, located in the District’sDowntown, underwent a $25.1-million renovation recently. It is close to 60% leased to several tenants including Davis Polk & Wardwell, which took about 20,000 square feet of space there last year.

There was a lot of interest in this transaction despite the relativelylow occupancy rate for a downtown asset. Mudd tells GlobeSt.com that alife insurance company was outbidded for the transaction and that severalother lenders had expressed interest in the asset. The deal alsoshows that “offshore banks can be competitive with domestic insurancecompanies,” he adds.

Interest in the bidding was based on the quality of the borrower, thebuilding and its location, with the occupancy rate playing very littlerole, Mudd says. “I don’t believe the occupancy rate had a bearing onthe lender’s terms that were ultimately accepted,” he says.