CLG Hedge Fund Originates $105M Construction Loan for TX Hotel

By Gail Kalinoski

Artist rendering of the Hyatt Regency Stonebriar

Aided by a $105 million loan originated by CLG Hedge Fund LLC and financed by Beal Bank, the Sam Moon Group has begun construction on the Hyatt Regency Stonebriar hotel in Frisco, Texas. The 18-story, 303-key hotel will be part of the Stonebriar Center mall and is being developed under a public-private agreement with the City of Frisco.

“The Hyatt Regency Stonebriar is a milestone development for the city, and we are excited to have joined with the Sam Moon Group to bring this great facility to Frisco,” Anthony Sassine, executive managing director for CLG Hedge Fund, said in a prepared statement. “This was a multifaceted financing arrangement, but we were able to work with the Moons and to provide a creative solution to their financing needs with no syndication risk.”

Beal Bank provided the senior loan for the project, while CLG Hedge Fund, an affiliate of Beal Bank, was instrumental in negotiating the loan. The Riskind Group LLC contributed to the mezzanine loan and Staghorn Capital Partners were brokers for the financing.

“We saw the opportunity to partner with Sam Moon, the City of Frisco and FEDC at Stonebriar Mall as a no-brainer. The City of Frisco is the gold standard for economic development for the state of Texas, if not the entire country,” Jay Riskind, chairman of The Riskind Group, said in prepared remarks.

Scheduled for completion in 2020, the hotel will be attached to the mall on the second floor and will be located between Nordstrom and Dillard’s. It will have a 54,585-square-foot conference center, including a grand ballroom, a junior ballroom and several breakout spaces; an 800-space parking garage, of which 200 spaces will be available for game-day parking at the nearby Dr. Pepper ballpark; and a 3,000-square-foot Frisco Public Library available for use by hotel visitors and city residents. The library will also connect directly to the mall.

Public-Private Deal with City

The public-private partnership agreement calls for the City of Frisco and its development corporations to contribute $16.5 million to the project over 20 years. Part of the deal calls for the city to buy the conference center for $10.5 million when the construction is finished. Moon Hotel Stonebriar Ltd. will then lease the conference center space from the city for $10,000 a year. The city will lease the library space for $1 each year for 20 years.

Ron Patterson, president of the Frisco Economic Development Corp., called the Stonebriar area one of Frisco’s most recognizable gateways.

“This addition exemplifies how our Stonebriar district is ever evolving, in step with the latest trends in retail and entertainment,” Patterson said in a prepared statement.

“Lifestyles are changing and this project promotes a new way of living, visiting and doing business in Frisco,” added Mayor Jeff Cheney.

Brasfield & Gorrie is the contractor for the hotel project and HKS Inc. is the architect. Looney & Associates will manage the interior design.

Based in Dallas, the Sam Moon Group has real estate and retail assets, including the Sam Moon Trading Co., a women’s handbag and accessories chain. Other hotel projects developed by the Sam Moon Group are the 304-key Renaissance Legacy Plano in Plano, Texas, and the 130-key Hyatt Place Alliance in Fort Worth, Texas. The firm also plans to bring a 160-key Hyatt House to the 69-acre Metropark Square mixed-use development in The Woodlands, Texas.

More Frisco CRE Deals

In other hotel news in the region, Ascend Growth Partners recently acquired Staybridge Suites Plano Frisco, a 101-key hotel in Plano, Texas, from Granitepark-Parkwood LLC. The property at 8355 Parkwood Blvd., is near The Shops at Legacy, Preston Creek Shopping Center and Preston Village Shopping Center.

The Frisco Economic Development Corp. recently sold 10 acres in the Frisco Park 25 master-planned business park to Cabot Properties and Stream Realty Partners to build a 160,000-square-foot building that will include a 75,000-square-foot headquarters for PowerSecure Lighting.

Image courtesy of CLG Hedge Fund LLC