Ratkovich’s $130M loan on Alhambra office complex transferred to special servicing

A $130 million loan attached to the Ratkovich Co.’s 45-acre mixed-use office campus in Downtown Alhambra has been transferred to special servicing, The Real Deal has learned.

The securitized loan was originated by Goldman Sachs a decade ago and was classified as non-performing beyond maturity as of last month, according to data from real estate analytics firm Trepp.

The push to find a lender to refinance the property follows rumblings for years that the 1 million-square-foot facility had been slow to fill. It reportedly lost two large tenants to bankruptcy and reorganization shortly after the recession. However, more recently, leasing momentum has picked up. In March, Ratkovich announced that the complex was 70 percent leased and said it expected it would be 90 percent occupied by the end of 2016.

“The Ratkovich Company requested a short-term extension of an existing CMBS loan at The Alhambra to finalize tenant leasing terms in advance of a planned recapitalization of the property,” said a spokesperson for the firm.

“That request is currently with a special servicer for review as is standard protocol,” he said.

Tenants at the complex include the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center for the Developmentally Disabled and the County of Los Angeles.

The loan is just one of what experts predict will be a tidal wave of commercial mortgage debt maturing this year and next, with loans taken out during the height of the real estate bubble finally coming due. Ratkovich bought the Alhambra complex in 1999 and refinanced it with the Goldman-originated loan in 2006.

A spokesperson said the firm has invested nearly $100 million to “protect, enhance and expand” the campus.