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Culver City developer scores $232M refinance from Deutsche Bank, Square Mile
The portfolio includes the (W)rapper Tower, which has been planned since 2006
The highly anticipated (W)rapper Tower — with its distinct exoskeleton of steel ribbons surrounding a glass structure — has moved one step closer to completion.
Developer Samitaur Constructs has secured a $231.6 million loan from Square Mile Capital Management and Deutsche Bank for a Culver City-based office portfolio, which includes the delayed office tower.
The 319,400-square-foot portfolio encompasses a 49,900-square-foot office building, which is fully leased by Nike, and a pair of office buildings spanning 89,000 square feet. WeWork and Jukin Media lease space at the buildings, located at 5764 and 5792 Jefferson Boulevard.
The 16-story (W)rapper building, which will feature 180,500 square feet of office space, will be the first creative office tower in Culver City once it is completed, Square Mile announced Wednesday.
It’s also likely to be the most eye-catching, given the distinctive design by Eric Owen Moss Architects.
The developers struggled to gain city approvals for the (W)rapper because of the unique exoskeleton. The project has been in the works since 2006, when the developers were awarded an $11 million grant from the federal government to fund acquisition and development costs. As of 2016, Samitaur was still looking to finalize financing for the site.
Samitaur is led by the husband-and-wife duo Frederick and Laurie Samitaur Smith. The Culver City-based company largely focuses on adaptive reuse projects, and currently holds a portfolio of 595,000 square feet of commercial space.
Culver City has become a hotbed for commercial real estate in recent years, attracting heavy hitters like Amazon and Apple. Hackman Capital Partners is behind two of the major developments in the neighborhood — the Culver Steps and Culver Studios expansion — while Lincoln Property Co. is developing a new, 128,000-square-foot project nearby.