Berkadia announced today the $19 million refinancing secured for Hilton Garden Inn, Crystal City, a full-service hotel in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. Director Matthew Raptosh and Associate Director Connor Wimsatt of Berkadia’s Hotels and Hospitality specialty team secured the loan on behalf of Sound Hospitality. The deal closed on July 30.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected the hospitality industry, leaving many owners struggling to secure the financing they need. Berkadia matched the borrower with a competitive, interest-only, non-recourse bridge loan just as they faced an upcoming maturity. Stonehill Strategic Capital provided the financing.
“During these times when we cannot be in person, we lean on our relationships most. Despite being remote and without being able to tour the site or meet with appraisers, we still quickly secured Sound Hospitality with the customized loan they were looking for through our hotel specialty group’s long-standing relationship with the lender,” said Raptosh. “Crystal City is a growing hotspot–including the new home of Amazon HQ2–and closing during this time demonstrates the strength of the asset and its owner in the local market.”
“The hotel had an in-place CMBS loan approaching maturity on July 30. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sound Hospitality had been working diligently to refinance this property. At that time, there were numerous options available in the Capital Markets through CMBS and with various banks. However, every potential candidate vanished at the onset of the crisis,” said Ben Castera, President of Sound Hospitality. “Berkadia presented the idea to search for alternative lending sources and offered to Sound Hospitality a list of solutions. After a close review, Stonehill emerged as the most attractive path, mostly due to their flexibility in offering future solutions for the property owners. The Berkadia team was amazingly open to evaluate and listen to the needs of the sponsorship, and they were able to work with Stonehill to build a financing structure that adapted to the hotel’s needs under the circumstances.”
Located at 2020 Richmond Highway, Hilton Garden Inn is near the planned corporate headquarters for Amazon HQ2 and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The hotel property features 248 guest rooms, four meeting rooms and 4,290 square feet of event space.
About Berkadia®:
Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, is a leader in the commercial real estate industry, offering a robust suite of services to our multifamily and commercial property clients. Through our integrated mortgage banking, investment sales and servicing platform, Berkadia delivers comprehensive real estate solutions for the entire life cycle of our clients’ assets.