Colorado Real Estate Journal - May 6, 2015
Terrix Financial closed almost $65 million in loans during the first quarter. The $64.96 million in loans represented 19 separate transactions and a wide spectrum of asset classes: apartments, self-storage units, offices, retail properties and even a day care center. Most of them were for refinances, as few owners want to pay capital gains on sales, limiting the number of acquisitions in the market, said John Richert, a stakeholder and principal of Denver-based Terrix. For Terrix, it was a strong quarter, but not a record-setting one, Richert said. The dollar volume was fairly representative of activity in recent years, he said. “I know our biggest year was about $300 million,” Richert said. Annualized, this pace would equate to around $260 million in total dollar volume for the year, although Richert said he does not pay attention to any seasonality to loan activity. However, it is almost certain there would have been more transactions, for Terrix and the entire market, if more owners would be willing to sell their properties, as demand from buyers is far outstripping the number of properties on the market, he said. Other lenders are telling the same story. The loans arranged by Terrix also covered a wide geographic area. Loans were made for properties in the Denver area, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and out of state. An increasing number of loans were placed with correspondent lenders with Terrix Financial. Loans for four self-storage facilities accounted for $24.98 million, or 38.4 percent of the almost $65 million in total loans. “That is probably just a coincidence,” that self-storage facility loans accounted for such a big percentage of the total, Richert said. However, despite the record rents and prices for multifamily properties, “self-storage units actually have performed better than any other asset class,” in terms of appreciation, he said. “The self-storage market is just a lot smaller than the multifamily market and so there are far fewer self-storage deals,” Richert said. Three of the facilities had climate-controlled units. Correspondent life insurance companies funded two of them. Craig Branton and Amy Gibson of Terrix closed an $11 million loan for an out-of-state, 904- unit self-storage property constructed in two phases in 2009 and 2013. The 20-year loan had a 4.25 percent interest rate. Amenities of that facility, built in 2009 and 2013, included extrawide automatic loading doors, individual door alarms, and a full-time, on-site, after-hours security guard. Terrix also arranged $23.82 million in loans for three separate apartment transactions. The lion’s share of those loans were for an apartment community in Fort Collins and one in Denver, which were handled by Richert and Marsha Blair of Terrix. Terrix arranged a $19.67 million refinance for the Fort Collins property, which was built in 1968 and 1969. The loan has a 3.8 percent interest rate that is fixed for 10 years and amortized over 30 years. The Fort Collins complex has 253 units in 33 buildings. It was financed by a Fannie Mae lender represented by Terrix. For the Denver apartment building, Terrix locked in the interest rate at signing for the property, which has a U-shaped design and a central courtyard. Details of other Terrix loans include: • A $2.6 million acquisition loan for a 20,680-sf, one-story retail center built in 1998 in Parker. The loan rate is fixed at 3.88 percent for five years and is amortized over 25 years. The transaction was handled by Brandon Rogers and Cody Bergan; • A $2.5 million refinance of a 68-unit, five-story apartment building built in Denver in 1966. The loan, arranged by Richert and Blair, has a 3.72 percent interest rate with a 10-year term. It is amortized over 25 years; • A $2.48 million refinance of a 79,375-sf office/warehouse built in Commerce City in 1975. The 13-unit warehouse is 100 percent occupied. The refinance was handled by David O’Brien and Gibson; • A $2.45 million loan for the acquisition of a 6,600-sf, 100 percent occupied retail center in Las Vegas. The 10-year loan, amortized over 25 years, has a 5 percent interest rate. The transaction was handled by Rogers and Gibson; • A $1.5 million loan for a six-building, 25,338-sf industrial/office building complex built between 1962 and1980 in Denver. The loan was arranged by O’Brien and Jay Richert; • A $1.05 million refinance of a 29,000-sf light-industrial office/ warehouse property built in 1998 in Longmont. The 30-year loan is fixed at 4 percent for five years. The loan was arranged by Chris Bourgeois and Blair; and • A $1 million refinance of a 7,435-sf day care center in Lakewood. The 30-year loan, arranged by Bourgeois and Jay Richert, has an interest rate of 4.25 percent for five years. The property was built in 1997. The loan closed in 13 business days.
-The owner of the Presidio, an 81,222-square-foot office building at 1155 Kelly Johnson Blvd. in Colorado Springs, recently refinanced its loan in a $6 million transaction. Netreit, based in Escondido, California, purchased the Presidio in 2012 for about $7.3 million. Doug Austin of NorthMarq Capital’s San Diego-based regional office, arranged the refinancing for the Presidio. The seven-year loan has four years of interest-only payments and is amortized over 30 years. NorthMarq arranged the financing through its relationship with a conduit commercial mortgage-backed securities lender. “This is a premier, repeat borrower for whom we have completed numerous transaction,” according to Austin.