Meridian Capital Group arranged $13 million in financing to refinance Windsor Suites in Philadelphia on behalf of the Edward S. Brown Group.
The seven-year loan, provided by a balance sheet lender, includes a rate of 3.75 percent and was negotiated by Meridian SVPs David Fisher and Scott Jackson, who are both based in the company’s Iselin, N.J., office.
“This asset, with its unique mix of hospitality and multifamily, wasn’t a cookie-cutter deal, but Meridian’s team was able to work with the distinguished sponsor to customize terms that surpassed our client’s expectations,” Israel Schubert, senior managing director of Meridian’s New Jersey office, said in a statement.
Located at 1700 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Windsor Suites is a 24-story property consisting of 196 hotel suites that include fully-equipped kitchens, living and dining spaces and skyline views of downtown Philadelphia. Additionally, the Windsor Suites includes 120 unfurnished studio and one-bedroom rental apartments that offer residents contemporary urban living combined with the added amenities of a hotel. The building includes a business center, newly renovated meeting rooms, a fitness studio, a rooftop pool and more than 200 underground parking spaces, two restaurants and 5,000 square feet of commercial space that is currently leased to Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss, a local law firm.
The property is situated on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which connects Museum Row to Center City’s prolific office market. Windsor Suites’ location offers access to nightlife, retail and fine dining, as well as the city’s top universities, hospitals and employers. The Windsor Suites also benefits from direct access to mass transportation, including to Amtrak, local train lines such as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the Port Authority Transit Corporation Speedline, I-76, I-676 and I-95.
“The borrower was looking for flexibility that CMBS lenders and life companies weren’t able to offer,” Jackson said in a statement. “Meridian identified a balance sheet lender that appreciated the sponsorship’s long-term ownership of the asset and could provide a fixed-rate loan, locked at application, with a flexible prepayment penalty and no reserve structure.”
Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group is one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance and investment sales firms. In 2017, Meridian closed more than 3,000 transactions across more than 200 unique lenders and sold nearly $1 billion in commercial property.