Gantry, the largest independent commercial mortgage banking firm in the U.S., has secured a $16 million permanent loan to refinance maturing debt for Russell Hall, a mixed-use property located at 1414 NE 42nd St directly adjacent to the University of Washington (UW) and “The Ave” retail and hospitality corridor. The 62,400-square-foot, six-story, LEED Gold certified building features 120 subterranean parking stalls, ground floor retail, three floors of office space, and 30 apartment units on the top two floors including a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom floorplans.

Apartment amenities include modern kitchens, large windows with UW or Seattle views, in-unit washer/dryer, and open floorplans with either concrete or maple flooring and carpeted bedrooms. Resident amenities also include a rooftop deck garden with BBQs, dining and relaxation space, garage parking and bike storage available for all units.

Office floors feature approximately 11,000-square-foot floorplates, large windows with views of downtown Seattle, Lake Union, Portage Bay and the UW campus, a parking ratio of 2/1000 square feet with additional parking available, and showers and secure bike storage. Ground floor retail includes restaurant options and ready pedestrian access to nearby shopping, dining and academic amenities.

Gantry’s Mike Wood, Principal, Mike Taylor, Principal, and Tim Brown, Senior Associate, with the firm’s Seattle production office represented the borrower, a private real estate investor. The five-year, fixed rate, non-recourse loan was secured from one of Gantry’s correspondent life companies and offers partial term interest only. Gantry will service the loan for the lender.

According to Gantry’s Mike Wood, “In a volatile market climate, Gantry’s life company correspondents remain a trusted source for attractive permanent debt on legacy hold real estate. Russell Hall is a high-quality mixed-use asset in the heart of the University District and all its dynamic professional and lifestyle activity. Performance has remained relatively stabilized at the property, with the office component facing the strains of a pending vacancy next year impacting underwriting. Still, Gantry’s ability to showcase the relevancy of the diverse uses, performance still meeting debt service, experienced sponsorship, and plans for re-tenanting office vacancy aligned the requirement with one of our top correspondents.”

Gantry’s Michael Taylor added, “Russell Hall is a great building with a strong sponsor. We arranged the financing on this when the building was purchased by our client in 2016 and this financing took out that maturing loan. The building is ‘class A’ but with 65% of the income from office tenants and one floor of the office leased but not occupied many lenders would not consider financing this. One of our correspondent lenders knew the market, understood that deal and the fact we have worked with them for decades and done several hundred million dollars in financing. That combination of market knowledge, trust, and access to capital is what we bring to our clients.”