Thorofare Capital has funded an $8,734,880 bridge loan for a sponsor’s refinance of 445 West Ash Street, a 0.91 acre or 40,000 SF development site located in Downtown San Diego, California. The property is slated for a 196-unit residential project, a 238-key boutique hotel, and retail/specialty grocer space. The loan, utilized by the sponsor to pay off an acquisition facility, carries an initial term of one year with extension options and a flexible pre-payment structure to allow for near-term development of the property into two state of the art, mixed-use towers.

The property is located on the southern edge of Little Italy, a neighborhood associated with vibrant retail and public art. The site is an L-shaped section of land located within the blocks bounded by State St., West A St., West Ash St and Columbia Street. The recently completed Waterfront Park is four blocks west of the subject site and provides extensive park space fronting San Diego Bay. The Santa Fe Depot Station is located just a few short blocks from the site and offers convenient transportation on the San Diego Trolley and Amtrak Coaster line. The site is centrally located with easy access to the San Diego Freeway (I-5), the Marina District, Gas Lamp District, Balboa Park and the Convention Center.

The current improvements on the property are a 8,435 SF office building currently 100% leased to Dowler-Gruman Architects and a 120 parking space lot currently managed by Sunset Parking Services. The combined NOI of the office building and the parking lot equates to a DSCR that is below breakeven, thus Thorofare creatively structured a “delta” interest reserve to sufficiently cover the required debt service.

The sponsorship group includes New York-based private investors who are working in conjunction with a Los Angeles-based developer that garners a 25-year track record of real estate development, consisting of projects ranging from single-family residential communities to the rehabilitation of entire city districts. Thorofare placed the loan in its third discretionary debt fund, Thorofare Asset Based Lending Fund III, L.P. The loan closed in just 10 calendar days from application.