Gantry, the largest independent commercial mortgage banking firm in the U.S., has secured a $21 million permanent loan to refinance the home of San Diego County’s North Inland Live Well Center at 649 W. Mission Ave in Escondido, an inland North County suburb of San Diego. The 111,000-square-foot, build-to-suit office facility was strategically redeveloped for current use in 2015 from a big box retail building formerly occupied by Office Depot and Albertsons. Creatively transformed through a multi-million program to specifically serve the County’s Health and Human Services Agency community-facing programs, the 100%-leased property still includes a small portion of retail space occupied by restaurant tenants within the former retail center’s inline locations.

Gantry’s Spencer Fisher, Director with the firm’s Los Angeles production office represented the borrower, a private real estate investor responsible for the property’s original redevelopment. The 10-year CMBS loan was secured from one of Gantry’s conduit lending sources and features 30-year amortization and non-recourse terms.

According to Gantry’s Spencer Fisher, “All office financings in this market are a challenge, but our borrower elected to start working on and close this office refinance well in advance of an existing loan maturity, which I think is prudent as there is only so much room for office asset within these CMBS pools. With volatility still pressuring rates, moving early to secure a rate in-line with debt service capacity made sense for the client’s legacy hold investment plans. Where office is performing with a story to tell, Gantry continues to underwrite attractive debt solutions for maturing office debt with diverse lenders offering ready funds.”