Mesa West Funds $91M Loan for Austin Office Campus

By Gail Kalinoski

Stonebridge Plaza I & II

Austin, Texas—Mesa West Capital originated a $90.5 million first mortgage loan for KBS Realty Advisors to recapitalize its recent all-cash acquisition of Stonebridge Plaza I & II, a 386,000-square-foot, Class A office campus in Austin, Texas.

The five-year, floating-rate loan is secured by the two nine-story LEED-certified office buildings and seven-story parking garage on 5 acres at 9600 and 9606 N. MoPac Expressway in Northwest Austin, one of the city’s strongest office submarkets, according to Mesa West Capital.

When KBS acquired the property in August, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based private equity real estate company noted it was 96 percent leased to tenants including Qualcomm, Google and Oracle. Mesa West Capital also referred to the “variety of strong credit-worthy tenants” and described the buildings—completed in 1999 and 2001—as institutional quality. A portion of the loan proceeds will be used for costs to renew existing loans or re-tenant the buildings if needed, stated Mesa West Capital Principal Steve Fried, who originated the loan from the firm’s Los Angeles office.

“The sponsor acquired an iconic asset with below market in place rents,” Fried said in a prepared statement. “Northwest Austin is one of the foremost corporate locations in the market. We are confident that KBS will be able to successfully leverage the building’s superior aesthetics, strong access and location, efficient floor plans and excellent parking to both retain and attract large corporate users that have been drawn to Austin.”

Mesa West Capital originated the loan out of its open-ended Mesa West Core Lending Fund, which provides first mortgage loans up to $300 million. The privately held debt fund manager and portfolio lender has more than $4.5 billion in assets under management. With offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, Mesa West is a leading provider of commercial real estate debt and has sourced and closed more than 245 transactions totaling more than $10 billion since its founding in 2004.