ValueXpress obtained a $4.5-million first-mortgage loan commitment with its New York banking partner, Country Bank, from the SBA for a Quality Inn located in Brooklyn, New York. The property securing the loan is a four-story, 81-room limited service hotel scheduled to open in February 2011. The site lies in close proximity to Brooklyn Passenger Ship Cruise Terminal and immediately adjacent to the Battery Tunnel leading to Manhattan. The property is 5 minutes from downtown Manhattan, within 2-5 miles of all major bridges and tunnels between Manhattan and New Jersey and has quick access to all the major airports. The hotel features 46 king rooms and 35 double bed rooms. The hotel will have on-site guest parking, an amenity not available at competing hotels in the area. The property is subject to a ground lease that has a term of 48 years.
ValueXpress worked pretty much non-stop 12-14 hours a day on this transaction beginning on December 8, when Jim Brett, senior underwriter at ValueXpress, took a car service from the Manhattan-based ValueXpress office to meet a borrower in central New Jersey and pick up 18 inches of paperwork on the potential deal. At the same time, Michael Sneden, Executive Vice President of ValueXpress, visited the property in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, NY. The deal was submitted on December 13, 2010 to meet the SBA cutoff for a 90% guaranty and fee waiver.