DALLAS—Woodbine Development Corporation has owned the 500-room Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas, for the past 20 years and the property has been a strong performer in the Woodbine portfolio. With the property’s debt maturing early this year, it was an easy decision for Woodbine to seek a refinancing opportunity, the company’s COO and CFO B. Gregory Mowatt said.
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| Woodbine completed an $89.5-million refinancing of the 500-room Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas. |
The company announced last month it successfully refinanced $89.5 million in loans on the property. Morgan Stanley provided $61 million in senior debt and Prudential Real Estate Investors provided a $28.5-million mezzanine loan.
“After 20 years of ownership, we still like it,” Mowatt said.
Mowatt declined to specify the exact terms Woodbine got on the refinancing, referencing confidentiality agreements that had been signed. “They were very competitive rates,” he said.
He also said the company structured each loan so it would be a five-year term. The shorter terms will provide more options to Woodbine as the economy stabilizes, he said.
That said, there are no plans to dispose of the property, though Mowatt did not entirely dismiss the idea. He said the company has an exit strategy for each of the six hotels in its portfolio.
“We’re confident hanging on to it,” he said. “As the economy has changed, so have we. We’ve become more opportunistic.”
Financing, development and deals
Mowatt said some development deals are being financed today. “I think good projects will get more funding,” he said. “They have good sponsorship and good economics.”
Lenders want to see not only good economics, but also that there isn’t a lot of new supply coming into a given market as well as a sponsor with a track record in the industry, he added.
He said the company likely won’t be looking to refinance any of its other hotels as there aren’t any impending maturities coming due.
The company could be active on the deals front, however, he said. “We are pursuing a significant number of opportunities, including a couple of new-build hotels,” he said.
As for transactions in the industry overall, Mowatt said he expects to see a robust deals environment during 2013. “We’re expecting to see growing deal volume,” he said.