Deal at a Glance
| Loan Amount | $5,000,000 |
| Property | Multi-tenant auto plaza |
| Location | Santa Monica, California (Westside) |
| Ownership Base | Pacific Palisades, California |
| Lender | a Ventura County-based credit union, Commercial Lending |
| Rate | 6.50% fixed for the full 7-year term |
| Amortization | 30 years, with an option for 12 months of interest-only payments |
| Maximum LTV | 65% of appraised value |
| Minimum DSCR | 1.25x, global |
| Prepayment | 3% / 2% / 1% declining by year, waived if refinanced with the same credit union |
| Origination Fee | 0.50% of the loan amount, negotiated down from 0.75%; rate lock fee waived |
| Deposit Requirement | $250,000 minimum in a money market account or term certificate with the lender |
| Loan Date | June 5, 2024 |
| Maturity | June 25, 2031 (approximately 7-year term) |
| Personal Guaranty | Yes, individual guarantor |
| Tenant Requirements | Estoppel certificates and lease subordination (SNDA) from tenants as required |
| Underwriting Diligence | Environmental review, engineering/seismic study, title insurance, verified rental income |
| Lien Payoff Requirement | All existing deeds of trust/mortgages satisfied, reconveyed, or paid through escrow at closing |
| Closed | Q2 2024 |
The Deal That Walked in the Door
We are Commercial Lending Solutions, a commercial mortgage brokerage based in Los Angeles, and this deal brought us a multi-tenant auto plaza on one of the busiest automotive-retail corridors on Santa Monica's Westside, California (CA), needing institutional financing from a credit union structured around its existing tenant leases. The ownership group, based in Pacific Palisades, needed a lender comfortable underwriting a leased commercial property with multiple tenants rather than a single owner-occupant. Commercial Lending Solutions specializes in credit union and bank placements for leased retail and auto-related properties across California and nationwide.
That stretch has long served as an auto-dealership and auto-services corridor connecting Santa Monica to the broader Westside, and a multi-tenant property there depends on verified, in-place rental income and clean lease documentation to satisfy an institutional lender's underwriting.
What Made It Hard
- Multi-tenant lease verification. Before funding, every tenant needed to sign an estoppel certificate confirming their lease terms and rent, with no unacceptable indication of tenant or landlord default, real diligence work across multiple tenancies rather than a single owner-occupant lease.
- Clearing existing liens through escrow. The lender required evidence that all mechanics' liens and existing deeds of trust or mortgages affecting the property were satisfied, released, or would be paid in full through escrow at closing, coordination that had to be sequenced correctly against the new loan's funding.
- Full institutional due diligence on a tight timeline. Environmental review, engineering inspections, seismic studies, financial analysis, and verified bank statements proving actual rental income from every tenant all had to clear before the credit union would fund.
How We Ran the Process
Trevor Damyan, a California-licensed real estate broker (CA DRE 02244836), placed the loan with a Ventura County-based credit union's commercial lending team, closing on June 5, 2024:
- $5,000,000 funded against the Santa Monica auto plaza at 6.50% fixed for seven years, with a maturity of June 25, 2031
- Pricing negotiated from the credit union's opening proposal: the origination fee came down from 0.75% to 0.50% of the loan amount and the rate lock fee was waived entirely, while the 65% maximum LTV held a 30-year amortization schedule (with a 12-month interest-only option) rather than a shorter, DSCR-constrained alternative
- Full tenant estoppel and SNDA package: estoppel certificates from all tenants confirming lease terms and payment status, plus lease subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements from tenants the lender specified
- Verified rental income: bank statements documenting actual receipt of rent from every tenant of the property for the period the lender required, independent confirmation of the income the loan was underwritten against
- Full institutional due diligence: environmental reports and questionnaires, engineering inspections, seismic studies, and financial analysis of both the borrower and guarantor
- Clean title at funding: evidence that all mechanics' and other liens were paid and released, and that any prior deeds of trust or mortgages on the property were satisfied, reconveyed, or paid off through escrow concurrent with closing
- A personal guaranty backing the loan, executed alongside the borrowing entity's own corporate and LLC resolutions authorizing the transaction
The loan closed on schedule, giving the ownership group a seven-year, institutionally documented facility against a fully leased, multi-tenant retail asset.
"With a multi-tenant deal, the lender is really underwriting every lease on the rent roll, not just the property. Getting the estoppels and the SNDAs lined up early is what kept this one from stalling."
Why We Won This One
Multi-tenant commercial properties bring underwriting complexity a single-tenant deal does not: every lease has to check out independently, every tenant has to confirm their own terms, and the lender wants proof the rent roll is real, not just represented on paper. Getting ahead of the estoppel and SNDA requirements early, rather than discovering tenant-by-tenant issues mid-underwriting, is what kept this deal moving through a credit union's full institutional diligence process without delay.
Coordinating the payoff of existing liens through escrow alongside the new loan's funding was the other piece that had to be sequenced correctly. A credit union underwriting a leased commercial asset wants a clean title position at closing, and getting that lined up in step with the new loan's conditions precedent avoided the kind of last-minute scramble that can push a closing date.
Is This Structure Right for Your Deal?
If you own a leased, multi-tenant commercial property and want institutional, credit-union-level pricing on a real term loan, we can help you get there. We arrange permanent loans and retail property financing from a network of more than 1,000 capital sources.
Apply for financing or call us at 310.708.0690 to talk through your property.
This is one of 32 closings we have arranged in Los Angeles County. Read about how we work as a Los Angeles commercial mortgage broker, see our Los Angeles commercial mortgage loans, or browse all 46 California closed deals.
Trevor Damyan is a commercial mortgage broker at Commercial Lending Solutions with a background in structured finance at CBRE and Marcus and Millichap Capital Corporation. He specializes in bridge loans, construction financing, SBA programs, DSCR loans, and complex capital structures for investors and developers across all 50 states.
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