Riverside Lands Some Mean Green With 150 North Riverside Refinancing
Riverside Investment & Development's 150 North Riverside is one of the most-anticipated new office buildings to come to downtown in years, and one of four projects transforming the Chicago riverwalk. Riverside just completed a $470M refinancing of the 53-story tower, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
The new loan from Bank of America replaced $357M in debt used to build the building. The construction loan is due next year, so this refinancing secures 150 North Riverside's long-term financing.
Refinancing newer properties in this real estate cycle has been a popular move with developers. Sterling Bay completed a $220M refinancing of 1K Fulton in 2015 before selling the building the following year. Hearn refinanced the John Hancock Center for $210M in 2016, and JDL Development and iStar Financial landed a $145M refinancing package for 1000 South Clark in October 2016. Investors have pulled equity from their assets in most of these deals but there have been exceptions like Waterton, which used its $250M refinancing of Presidential Towers last December to pay down the debt load on the property.
Downtown office investment sales are down significantly from their record 2015 numbers, and the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates in December, which could be contributing to a wave of refinancing.
