Fortress Provides Cityview With $96 Million Multifamily Refinancing

Multifamily developer Cityview scored nearly $100 million in refinancing for a Class A multifamily property south of downtown Los Angeles.

The Century City-based firm landed $96 million in refinancing debt tied to Jasper, a 296-unit apartment building at 2528 South Grand Avenue in Historic South Central, Commercial Observer reported. Funds managed by Fortress Investment Group originated and arranged the debt.

Jasper was built in 2023 and rises seven stories above South Grand Avenue. The Fortress loan will help bolster ongoing leasing efforts at the property and refinance roughly $80 million in construction debt provided by Acore Capital in 2023. Fortress opted to provide the Jasper financing as the lender looks to support “high-quality, newly built multifamily housing backed by an experienced sponsor with significant equity invested.”

Multifamily occupancy in the downtown Los Angeles area has remained strong while office vacancies and distress since the pandemic have continued to pose problems. Last year, multifamily occupancy reached nearly 91 percent, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, per Lee & Associates data cited by CO.

Jamison is among those firms that have attracted lender interest in its downtown housing projects. Last month, the Koreatown-based company secured a $195 million construction loan tied to the former Arco tower at 1055 West Seventh Street. Jamison is slated to convert the 33-story, roughly 620,000-square-foot office building into 686 residential units, making it the largest adaptive reuse project in Los Angeles history, according to CO. Construction on that project began earlier this year.

Cityview is working on an adaptive reuse plan of its own. The developer is planning to redevelop the two-building Newport summit office complex in Irvine into 422 units of housing. Cityview bought the property last year from a TPG Angelo Gordon affiliate for $34.5 million, backed by a $20.5 million loan from Banc of California for the acquisition of the site.

— Chris Malone Méndez