Douglas Emmett Gets $550M Construction Loan Connected to Westside's Barrington Plaza
Douglas Emmett secured a $550M loan package backed by four of its residential properties, including Barrington Plaza on Wilshire Boulevard, where Sawtelle and Brentwood meet.
The news of the loan was first reported by The Real Deal.
Barrington Plaza is the giant, 1960s multi-towered apartment complex which Douglas Emmett announced last year it would remove from the rental market in order to make fire safety upgrades. In doing so, it displaced 577 households. Tenants of the property have filed a lawsuit against ownership.
Douglas Emmett's floating-rate loan matures in 2027 and has an interest rate equal to the secured overnight financing rate, plus 1.48%, TRD reported, citing Securities and Exchange Commission filings. As of Feb. 7, SOFR was at 5.31%.
“For the portion [of the loan] secured by Barrington Plaza, in connection with the removal of that property from the rental market, we deposited $13.3 million of cash into an interest-bearing collateral account with the lender,” the filing states.
The filings said the undisclosed lender is treating the financing as a construction loan and Douglas Emmett signed a construction completion guarantee.
In its 2023 announcement of its decision to take the property off the rental market, Douglas Emmett said it expected the needed fire and life safety improvements to take several years at a cost of over $300M.
The filings did not disclose other loans included in the financing package.
