MetLife Real Estate Provides Permanent Loan on Iconic Downtown Building
Federal Capital Partners® (FCP) announces the $50 million refinancing of The Cigar Factory, an award-winning, mixed-use historic redevelopment in downtown Charleston, SC. FCP with Charleston-based joint venture partner WECCO Development and Atlanta based Weaver Capital Partners, LLC, acquired the once-vacant property in April 2014, with FCP providing both mezzanine debt financing and equity to facilitate WECCO & Weaver’s vision for the iconic property.
“The FCP team is thrilled to have been a part of the restoration of this unique property and congratulates William Cogswell, Jay Weaver and their team on the fulfillment of their vision for the re-establishment of this building as one of Charleston’s great office and retail destinations,” said FCP Senior Vice President, Bryan Kane. “We were fortunate to formulate a capital structure that helped the local partners in the venture achieve their goal of long term ownership and we now wish them continued success as they take the next step in that plan.”
“Our vision to create a unique environment to address the growing demands of office and retail users that want to be conveniently located downtown has exceeded our expectations,” said William Cogswell, president of WECCO Development. “We have enjoyed working with FCP and thank them for helping us make our vision a reality.”
The permanent financing was provided by MetLife Real Estate and structured to accomplish WECCO & Weaver’s goals of long term ownership of this generational asset in combination with replacing the construction financing. MetLife Real Estate provided a $50 million, fixed rate loan with a maturity of 20 years.
Since the highly complex redevelopment was completed, The Cigar Factory has been recognized as one of “Preservation’s Best of 2015” by Preservation Action, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Trust Community Investment Corporation and is now a mixed-use destination for high-end retail, professional offices, culinary destinations and event experiences. The Cigar Factory was also a recipient in January 2016 of the Carolopolis Award from the Preservation Society of Charleston. This award is presented to individuals, businesses or organizations who have achieved distinction in restoring or rehabilitating historic, architecturally significant properties in Charleston. The Cigar Factory is an excellent example of Victorian-era commercial architecture, with unique, high, exposed ceilings and sweeping views of the river, Ravenel Bridge and the city skyline.
Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group arranged the permanent loan with MetLife as well as the original construction financing with PNC Real Estate and the partnership with FCP.
About Federal Capital Partners
Federal Capital Partners (FCP) is a privately held real estate investment company that has invested in or financed more than $5.0 billion in assets since its founding in 1999. FCP invests in all asset classes and provides equity, preferred equity and structured debt investments for commercial and residential real estate. The firm, based in Chevy Chase, MD, owns and manages in excess of $2.3 billion in assets. FCP is currently investing its third investment fund, a recently closed commingled, discretionary fund targeted at real estate markets in the Eastern United States. For further information on FCP, please visit www.fcpdc.com
About WECCO Development, LLC
WECCO of Charleston, LLC a development and investment company specializing in the acquisition and renovation of historic properties in the Charleston and Savannah markets.
About Weaver Capital Partners, LLC
Weaver Capital Partners, based in Atlanta, develops, repositions and invests in Office, Industrial, Retail and Mixed Use in the Southeast. Core to its mission is finding out where the opportunity and value lies with a given project and executing on it.