Mercury Advisors re-finances Tampa apartment tower

In a sign of capital markets’ continued confidence in the Tampa Bay area’s multifamily rental prospects, Tampa-based Mercury Advisors and its partner have obtained a $63 million permanent loan on their recently completed 22-story Channel Club apartments near downtown.

Commercial real estate brokerage firm JLL’s capital markets team arranged the new debt on behalf of Mercury and ECI Group from BBVA USA and BlackRock on the 1115 E. Twiggs St. project.

“Despite the disruptions in the capital markets caused by COVID-19, capital continues to find Tampa to be an attractive market for real estate,” says Matt Mitchell, a JLL senior managing director in Tampa and the firm’s head of capital markets there.

“Tampa has emerged as one of the most stable multifamily housing markets in the U.S. because of a variety of factors, including its economic diversity, affordability and a manageable pipeline of new supply,” Mitchell adds.

The 324-unit Channel Club, which was completed earlier this year by Mercury and Atlanta-based ECI, features units that average 911 square feet with amenities such as a resort-style swimming pool, fitness center, covered parking ad views of downtown Tampa.

The project also is adjacent to a Publix Super Market, which opened in August 2019, and near the $3.5 billion Water Street Tampa neighborhood being developed by Strategic Property Partners.

“We were able to replace our construction loan with permanent financing, and the project is currently at or above our expectations,” says Ken Stoltenberg, Mercury Advisors’ co-founder. “We’re very happy with the progress there.”

JLL’s  Chip Sykes, a managing director in the company’s Atlanta office, noted that the coronavirus pandemic did have an impact on closing the new loan with BBVA, one of the U.S.’s 25 largest banks, and BlackRock, a global investment company that manages more than $7.3 trillion.

“We are in a highly challenging financing environment and only the best assets in the strongest growth markets with best-in-class sponsors are being finaned,” Sykes says.