The 5-year fixed rate loan was financed through CWCapital’s Capital Markets Group, and was originated by Patrick McNulty, Senior Vice President and Midwest Regional Manager. The loan is the firm’s first closing through their Balance Sheet Lending program, which was created and launched earlier this year in an effort to provide borrowers an alternative to conduit financing.     

The subject property consists of two, multi-tenant Class A office buildings totaling 255,837 SF constructed in 1999 and 2001.  The property is approximately 99% leased, and has exhibited strong historical occupancy levels with anchor tenants that include Potash and Merrill Lynch.  The sponsor is a Chicago real estate investor. 

“This loan was a perfect fit for our Balance Sheet Program,” said McNulty.  “It is a high quality asset located in a strong suburban market with a strong tenant roster and excellent sponsorship.”

Tammy Heyman, Senior Managing Director of CW’s Capital Markets Group echoed McNulty’s sentiment.  “We have been actively reviewing hundreds of loan proposals since launching this program, and are very pleased to have closed a deal that we feel exemplifies all the qualities we look for through the Balance Sheet Program.  Our program offers the ability to finance high quality, stable assets at higher leverage levels and with greater prepayment flexibility than many of our competitors.  More importantly, these Balance Sheet products give us tremendous control of delivery, which we are uniquely poised to do through our integrated platform, and partnership with our parent company, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.” 

CW offers both fixed and floating rate financing through their Balance Sheet Program with the loans being held on the balance sheet of a Caisse subsidiary. The firm’s vertical integration strategy, in which it retains the risk of its loans and control of major servicing decisions, benefits borrowers even more in today’s volatile market as borrowers seek certainty and the desire for their lender to be there before and after the loan closing.

“In the current market, it’s a tremendous advantage to have a AAA-rated parent company,” stated Michael Berman, President of CW. “ The fact that we are able to offer these financing solutions in a challenging environment allows us to differentiate ourselves from other lenders, and speaks to the success of our vertical integration strategy.  We are very pleased to launch this program with a loan closing of this size and stature.  We have several other, high quality transactions scheduled to close over the next 30 to 90 days and continue to review loan proposals, as well as work on the development of other new initiatives.”

In addition to launching these innovative loan products, the firm continues to see tremendous volume in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD loan programs.

 About CWCapital

 CWCapital is a leading, national full-service lender to the multifamily and commercial real estate industries. With approximately 320 employees located in 13 offices nationwide, the company closed approximately $3 billion of loans in 2007.  CWCapital currently services over $9 billion of loans in 47 states and, through CWCapital Investments and CWCapital Asset Management, controls special servicing and subordinate CMBS on over $180 billion of multifamily and commercial loans representing approximately 14,500 mortgages.  The company generally services all loans that it originates as well as loans for institutional investors. Cadim, a Montreal-based real estate advisor and portfolio manager, holds a majority interest in CWCapital Investments and CWCapital. Cadim is a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the leading institutional fund manager in Canada with more than $200 billion of assets under management. For more information, visit www.cwcapital.com.