Page 24 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Finance
by John Rebchook
Terrix Financial closed a total
of $79.3 million loans in the first
quarter.
The closing volume, mostly for
apartment and retail deals, is the
latest sign of the health of the lend-
ing market.
“We had a very good quarter,”
said John Richert, a principal and
stockholder of Denver-based Ter-
rix.
“The market is good, active and
competitive,” Richert said.
The quarter was good for Terrix,
as well as for other commercial
real estate mortgage brokers, for a
variety of reasons, he said.
“There is not a lot of alterna-
tive investments out there as far
as yields are concerned, so a lot
of people are buying real estate
instead of buying Treasuries or
putting money in bank deposits,”
he said.
Existing owners, meanwhile,
continue to refinance when they
can.
“Absolutely,” Richert said.
“Rates seem to continue to trend
down,” despite earlier concerns
that they would begin to rise this
year.
Lenders, he said, are eager to
make loans in the Denver area,
because they like the low unem-
ployment, job growth and diverse
economy.
“It seems everyone wants to
move to Denver,” Richert said.
There would be even more refi-
nancing activity, if not for prepay-
ment penalties.
“Commercial real estate is not
like the residential market, where
you refinance every time rates fall
one or two points,” Richert said.
“Commercial real estate loans
are often structured so it is too
expensive to take advantage of
falling rates because of prepay-
ment penalties,” he said.
While every case is different, he
has found that those looking for
acquisition financing or refinanc-
ingwant to lock in rates for as long
as possible.
“People want to take advantage
of these low rates,” Richert said.
“The majority of our clients
typically want rates fixed for 10
years, although we do all kinds of
loans and it really does vary by the
needs of the borrower,” he said.
Will this demand for loans con-
tinue for the rest of 2016?
“I have no clue,” Richert said.
The same goes for the impact of
the presidential election.
“Who can figure that out? It is
the most chaotic election I have
ever seen. If Bernie wins and
he could get all of his programs
through, it would have a huge
impact. If Ted Cruz wins and he
could get his ideas approved, I
would think it would also have a
significant impact. But I amalmost
not paying attention to stuff like
that, which I have absolutely no
control over.”
Meanwhile, in the first quar-
ter, the Terrix loans ranged from
$500,000 to $26.6 million. Most
were placed with correspondent
lenders that have a relationship
with Terrix.
The $26.6 million acquisition
loan was closed by Richert for
a five-story, 295-unit apartment
community in Littleton that was
built in 1971 and 1973. Marsha
Blair assisted Richert with the
loan. The loan had a term of three
years with interest only.
Other Terrix deals included:
• David O’Brien and Amy Gib-
son closeda $24million loan for an
out-of-state, 216 -unit garden-style
apartment.
• Richert and Marsha Blair
closed a $9.4 million acqui-
sition loan for a three-story,
76,048-square-foot office building
in Englewood. The 10-year loan
is interest only for the first three
years andamortizedover 30 years.
• Craig Branton and Jay Richert
closed a total of $4.67 million in
loans for retail properties and an
office/retail building in Denver
and Englewood. The loans were
all funded by a correspondent life
insurance company represented
by Terrix Financial.
• O’Brien and Gibson closed a
$3.8 million loan to refinance an
89,023-sf neighborhood shopping
center in Denver. Anchored by a
grocery store and a dollar store,
the center was built in 1956-1967.
• Brandon Rogers and Jay
Richert arranged an acquisition
loan of $1.7 million for a King
Soopers-anchored retail center in
Commerce City. The 10-year loan
is amortized over 25 years.
• Kevin Chadwick and Blair
closed a $1.26 million acquisition
loan for a strip retail center in
Lakewood. The center was con-
structed in 1995 and renovated in
2006. The single-story retail build-
ing is fully occupied with three
tenants and has a corner location.
A regional bank funded the loan
and the terms were for 10 years
with a 25-year amortization sched-
ule.
•Rogers, assistedby JayRichert,
closed a $1.16 million apartment
loan. The lender closed the loan
in about 40 days from issuing the
quote. The four-story apartment
building had recent upgrades of
new appliances, ceiling fans and
flooring, new roof, hot water heat-
er, parking lot, sidewalks, paint
and awnings. A regional bank
funded the acquisition loan for a
local investor.
• Craig Branton, assisted by Jay
Richert and Corey Knapp, closed
a $1.14 million loan for an apart-
ment building in Western Colo-
rado. A life insurance company
funded the loan.
• Rogers, assisted by Gibson,
arranged a $2.6 million loan for a
retail center in Colorado Springs
and an out-of-state showroom/
industrial property. The retail cen-
ter was constructed in 2014 and
was 100 percent occupied by five
tenants. The loan has no prepay-
ment penalty and was funded by
a lender with whom Terrix has a
strong, ongoing relationship.
• Chadwick and Blair closed a
$1.26 million acquisition for a strip
center constructed in Lakewood
s
Terrix recently closed a loan for this office building.
Terrix recently closed a loan for this apartment community.
