Gantry, the largest independent commercial mortgage banking firm in the U.S., has secured $10.5 million in financing to recapitalize the land site and pre-construction costs for the Icon/Echo, a mixed-use redevelopment project planned for Downtown San Jose. The approximately 2.1-acre land site is slated for the construction of two new towers after demolition of existing buildings and a parking lot is complete. Current plans call for a 21-story tower for office uses with street-level retail, and a 27-story multifamily residential tower, with both connected by a shared podium on floors 1-4. The project will also feature one-below grade level of parking and offer approximately 1000 parking spaces as currently proposed. Construction activity at the site is slated to begin over the next 12-24 months.

Gantry’s Jeff Wilcox, Principal, and Robert Slatt, Principal, and Andrew Ferguson, Associate,

 with the firm’s San Francisco production office represented the borrow, Urban Catalyst. The short-term bridge loan was secured through a private real estate investment company, and features interest only terms.

According to Gantry’s Jeff Wilcox, “Gantry continues to identify a wide variety of alternative lending sources for developers in what remains a tumultuous period for commercial finance as banks retreat from their traditional primary role in development. Gantry continues to expand a roster of new sources to back fill their absence, including debt funds, private lenders, family offices, and, in some cases, our insurance company correspondents. We have had tremendous success in recent months securing early project financing to cover land, entitlement, and related soft costs for sponsors preparing a shovel ready site. For this project, Urban Catalyst -requested financing to recapitalize the project’s land acquisition and entitlement costs while providing additional proceeds to support final technical programming and site preparation. With funding now in place, we expect to see development commence during the next 12-24 months as construction budgets and design plans are finalized.”