Gantry, the largest independent commercial mortgage banking firm in the U.S., has secured a $21.4 million construction takeout loan for a two-building creative office project, located at 3520-3524 & 3512-3516 Schaefer Street in Culver City, a Los Angeles County city with a substantial creative and entertainment-driven industry base. Encompassing 35,000 rentable square feet in total, the new Class-A buildings feature dramatic 18-foot ceilings, extensive glass, open floor plans with modern interiors and landscaped exteriors with gathering spaces.

Gantry’s Tony Kaufmann, Principal, and Andrew Ferguson, Associate, with the firm’s San Francisco production office represented the borrower, a private real estate investment and development firm based in West Los Angeles. The financing was provided by one of Gantry’s correspondent insurance company lenders and features a highly attractive fixed rate with a three-year initial term and 30-year amortization.

According to Gantry’s Tony Kaufmann, “Not all office space is struggling in the current market cycle, and a flight to quality has kept many newer properties on track. Gantry’s insurance company correspondents provide access to fixed rate financing on office properties able to demonstrate performance in what has remained a tough market cycle for the asset class in general. Entertainment, tech and creative are still highly collaborative industries and occupancy and tenant interest in core markets, such as West Los Angeles, remain strong. These two high design and highly modern properties, while not seasoned, met all the necessary underwriting criteria to retire existing debt with no cash-in requirement and a fixed rate.”