$21.6M Loan Closed for Charlotte Acquisition

By Dees, Stribling, Contributing Editor

Charlotte, N.C.—Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has originated and closed a $21.6 million first mortgage loan secured by Morrison at SouthPark, a mixed-use property in Charlotte, N.C., with 214 residential units. The acquisition financing was through a major insurance company to an unnamed buyer.

According to Grandbridge senior vice president Mike Ortlip, the lender’s willingness to deliver competitive pricing and a customized loan structure met all of the borrower’s needs. Also, the asset’s complicated condominium ownership structure called creative thinking on the part of the lender.

Ortlip told MHN that investors are looking closely at the Charlotte market, because “multifamily is performing reasonably well given continued in-migration and the economic strength of the city. The Census Bureau recently reported that Charlotte was the fastest growing urban area—among areas with a population of one million or more—in the nation from 2000 through 2010.  We have a vibrant city, and it’s tough to beat the city’s overall quality of life.”

Charlotte’s also a low-cost place for businesses and their employees, he adds. Among the largest 40 MSAs in the country, Charlotte comes in at 93.3, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which is the eighth-lowest in the nation. (Houston, at 89.8 was the lowest; New York, at 218.8, was the highest.)

Charlotte-based Grandbridge has an investor base that includes insurance companies, pension fund advisors, CMBS lenders, commercial banks and capital markets investors, as well as a proprietary lending platform. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of BB&T, currently has a servicing portfolio of about $26.1 billion representing nearly 100 capital providers.