Meridian Capital Group Arranges $31 Million in Financing for the Boardwalk at Sorrento Court, a Shopping Center in San Diego, CA

Meridian Capital Group, America’s most active dealmaker, arranged $31 million in renovation financing to refinance Sorrento Court in San Diego, CA on behalf of The Festival Companies.

The 24-month loan, provided by a balance sheet lender, features a floating rate, full-term interest-only payments and a large future funding allocation. Meridian Senior Managing Director, Seth Grossman, and Associate, Andy Strauss, who are both based in the company’s Solana Beach, CA office, negotiated the financing for this transaction.

Located at 9420-9460 Scranton Road in San Diego, CA, the Boardwalk at Sorrento Court features several structures totaling more than 50,000 square feet. In addition to a full property renovation, the sponsor plans to significantly enhance and modernize the current free-standing 17,000 square foot anchor, which is currently occupied by Staples and is anticipating vacancy in the near term. The repositioning of that asset could result in another large user taking occupancy, but Festival also has plans to implement their trademarked Boardwalk concept, which would convert the structure into a contemporary, fast-casual food and dining destination with a curated tenant mix and amenities package. The area would consist of five or six food and beverage tenants with generous outdoor patio space and a boardwalk pedestrian connection when complete. Notable existing tenants located throughout the in-line portion of the center, such as Starbucks, Chase, Bank of America, and Which Wich, will remain in place throughout the renovation.

The property is advantageously located at the northwest corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Scranton Road in the Sorrento Valley neighborhood of San Diego, CA. The I-805, one of the most heavily-traveled thoroughfares in the greater San Diego region, is less than one mile away, while the ocean and high-end shops and residences in La Jolla are just a 10-minute drive. As the Sorrento Valley submarket boasts the most densely populated office concentration in San Diego, no site is better positioned to cater to the area’s working population.

“When we financed the purchase of this center several years ago, it was exciting because the asset, while phenomenally located, was outdated,” said Mr. Grossman. “After years of meticulous planning, there is no doubt that the center will be transformed into a best-in-class product that is extremely well received, as we have seen time and time again with Festival.”

Festival Development Corporation is an affiliate of The Festival Companies, a leading developer and operator of retail and mixed-use properties, and a full-service commercial real estate advisory firm. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Festival is recognized nationwide as a respected innovator of urban in-fill shopping center redevelopment and ground-up development projects, transforming real estate into quality retail destinations that suit their unique locations and demographics. Since 1980, Festival and its founding principals have successfully acquired, developed, redeveloped and operated more than 120 retail shopping center projects in a broad array of retail property types — including regional malls, high-quality street retail projects, lifestyle center destinations, resort centers, community centers, neighborhood centers, urban retail and retail-driven mixed-use properties. Please visit www.festivalcos.com for more info and a partial track record of completed projects.

Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group is America’s most active deal maker and one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate finance, investment sales and retail leasing advisors. In 2017, Meridian closed over 3,000 transactions across more than 200 unique lenders and sold nearly $1 billion in commercial property. Meridian represents many of the world’s leading real estate investors and developers and the company’s expansive platform has specialized practices for a broad array of property types including office, retail, multifamily, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, and healthcare and senior housing properties. Meridian is headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and California.