Owner of renovated waterfront hotel in Tampa borrows to repay construction loan

The owner of a renovated bayfront hotel in Tampa, the Godfrey Hotel & Cabanas Tampa, repaid a construction loan with a $53 million “ramp” loan.

Besides paying off the construction loan, proceeds of the ramp loan from also will be used “return additional capital to the sponsor,” Mission Capital Advisors said in a press release.

“Ramp loans are based in large part on projecting the property’s path to stability … a wrinkle of complexity that not all lenders can underwrite,” Ari Hirt of Mission Capital said in a prepared statement.

Hirt arranged the loan from Marathon together with Mission Capital’s Jordan Ray, Alex Draganiuk and Justin Hunt.

Several lenders competed for the deal, according to Hirt, before the property owner, Oxford Capital Group, LLC, closed the adjustable-rate $53 million ramp loan from Marathon Asset Management.

The Godfrey Hotel & Cabanas Tampa is a 276-key hotel a 7700 West Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa.

The property features the WTR Pool & Grill, a poolside dining and entertainment destination overlooking Tampa Bay.

Oxford acquired the hotel in 2015 and then repositioned it by adding the swimming pool, cabanas, and 15 guest rooms. The company also renovated existing guest rooms, with hardwood flooring and marble counter tops, and redid the lobby with the addition of a café and wine bar.

The waterfront property previously was the longtime spring-training home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees. – Mike Seemuth