Los Angeles Business Journal
Lightstone Provides $76M in Loans for L.A. CRE
Lightstone Provides $76M in Loans for L.A. CRE
By Hannah Madans Welk
April 4, 2022
New York-based Lightstone Capital has provided $76 million in mortgages for four properties in L.A. The largest mortgage was $49 million for a portfolio consisting of a mixed-use development site in Santa Monica and two multifamily properties in Sawtelle.
The Santa Monica site, at 201 Colorado Ave. at 7th Street in downtown Santa Monica, is entitled for 159 units spread across two buildings. The Sawtelle properties are at 1421 and 1427 Barry Ave. Lev’s Justin Piasecki and Richard Sutton and RST Capital Partners’ Rahim Thobani arranged the financing.
The developer of the portfolio is WS Communities. Santa Monica-based NMS Residential will manage the properties. Neil Shekhter is the founder and chief executive of NMS Properties. His sons Alan, Alexander and Adam Shekhter, along with Scott Walter, founded WS Communities. “One of our strengths at Lightstone Capital is our ability to adapt to the needs of our clients,” Eugene Rozovsky, senior managing director at the company, said in a statement.
“For WSC, we were able to provide a creative solution, which gave them a single loan that allowed them to execute two separate business plans – one for each unique asset. The fact that this is the third financing we have done with WSC indicates we are continuing to meet their high expectations.” Separately, Lightstone also provided a $27 million first mortgage for a warehouse in Vernon owned by a group of private investors.
The 105,000-square-foot warehouse sits on 12 acres on Alameda Street. The property is 100% leased by three tenants, according to Lightstone. Amherst Real Estate Capital’s Edward Choi arranged the financing.
“The key to this project was our ability to close it within their very tight deadline,” John Zubak, Lightstone Capital’s vice president of West Coast originations, who led the transaction for the company, said in a statement. “Being responsive to the client’s needs is at the core of what we do.” Lightstone Capital provides loans for properties ranging from $5 million to $100 million in gateway markets. The company did more than $200 million worth of loans in the first quarter.