JV Lands $73M Bridge Financing for Orlando Tower

SunTrust Plaza at Church Street Station. Image courtesy of Berkadia

A joint venture comprising Mason Capital Partners, Lincoln Property Co. and Pope & Land Co., have obtained a five-year $72.9 million bridge loan for the newly constructed SunTrust Plaza at Church Street Station in Orlando, Fla., from CIM Group. Berkadia arranged the financing, which marks the largest loan for a single asset in Orlando and the third largest in Florida this year.

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Located at 333 S. Garland Ave., the 28-story, mixed-use SunTrust Plaza at Church Street Station was completed earlier this year. The office portion of the building is approximately 84 percent leased with Truist Bank, formerly known as SunTrust Bank, as the major tenant. Truist will occupy 43 percent of the building through 2030. It is the first office tower to be delivered in downtown Orlando in nearly a decade. The property has the largest high-rise floorplates in the Orlando central business district at 29,000 square feet.

Property details

The loan is secured by the 18 stories of Class A office space and the nine-level parking deck. The financing does not include the soon-to-open 180-key Marriott AC Hotel. The hotel, which tops the tower, is slated to open later this year. In addition to the guestrooms, the building has about 200,000 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of meeting space and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It also has an urban courtyard and integrated access to the Church Street SunRail station. The property features a façade of reflective glass and polished steel, showcasing its modern, geometric architecture.

The property is accessible from Interstate 4 and SR 408. It is within walking distance of City Hall, the Regional History Center and public library. The neighborhood has restaurants and entertainment venues including the Doctor Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and the Amway Center as well as retail, residential and hotel offerings. The Creative Village and Bob Carr Theater are a short free bus ride away via Lymmo.

The property is the preeminent asset in downtown Orlando because of its quality, location, amenities and superior rent roll, according to Michael Weinberg, a Berkadia managing director who helped arrange the financing. The Orlando Berkadia team included Managing Director Rebecca Van Reken and Associate Director Alex Fox. This is the second Orlando CBD office building financing transaction the Berkadia team has secured since the pandemic began. In May, Weinberg, Van Reken and Fox arranged financing for Fulcrum, a four-story, mixed-use property at 150 N. Orange, which is undergoing a transformative renovation as creative office and retail space.

CIM has also been an active lender during the COVID-19 crisis. The Los Angeles-based firm provided a $190 million bridge loan secured by International Plaza I & II in Dallas, a $95.6 million mortgage loan secured by Galleria Corporate Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., and a $100 million short-term liquidity facility secured by a portfolio of real estate assets in the Los Angeles area.