Montecito Development Receives Construction Financing

The two-story project will include two residential condominium units totaling 3,931 square feet above 10,323 square feet of office and retail space. The project also will feature an outdoor courtyard as well as underground and street level parking. With construction financing in place, the development of the former Turk Hessellund Nursery will begin immediately, according to George Elkins Mortgage Banking Principal Jeffrey Hudson, who arranged the financing.

“Although we are seeing increasing fluidity in the capital markets, construction financing is still difficult to come by,” said Hudson. “However we were able to demonstrate to the lender the improving market fundamentals in the Santa Barbara area and the demand for this type of project in Montecito.”

Construction starts with 50 percent of the commercial and retail space pre-leased to a high end women’s clothing boutique as well as a restaurant owned by The Hillstone Restaurant Group, which owns and operates a collection of boutique restaurants throughout the United States including Houston’s, Bandera, R+D Kitchen and Gulfstream.

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About George Elkins Mortgage Banking Company

George Elkins Mortgage Banking (http://www.gemb.com) has been originating and servicing commercial real estate loans in the Southern California market for more than 80 years. Focused exclusively on arranging debt and equity financing for commercial real estate properties, today George Elkins Mortgage Banking originates in excess of $725 million of loans annually and provides loan servicing functions for our correspondent lenders for a loan portfolio valued at nearly $1 billion.