WILMINGTON — D2 Capital Advisors has arranged $49.5 million in financing for a hotel and a recently completed lab at the Chestnut Run Innovation & Science Park (CRISP) along Route 141.
The deal solidifies the relationship between the MRA Group and D2 Capital Advisors, as the advisor firm had worked on similar projects in the past, as well as the hotel management company Gulph Creek Hotels. Gulph Creek will be the manager of the 127-key Marriott Residence Inn at CRISP.
“D2’s life sciences financing experience and strong lender relationships were extremely valuable to us throughout the financing process,” MRA Group Partner and Executive Vice President Phil Butler said in a prepared statement. “This financing was an important milestone in our redevelopment plan for CRISP, which affords us increased financial flexibility and demonstrates a broader confidence in the region by the capital markets.”
D2 Capital Advisors is an arm of the D2 organization which has two lines of business: advisors and equity financing, as well as commercial real estate with projects in the tri-state region.
D2 Capital Advisors arranged $23.5 million in funding in construction costs for the hotel. WSFS Bank, Nuveen Green Capital and Energize Delaware are the lenders. The firm also arranged $26 million for the recently-completed Prelude Therapeutics headquarters on the campus.
“First and foremost, this is an opportunity to work with an experienced sponsor [the MRA Group] that has replicated the success they replicated,” D2 Capital Advisors Vice President Jack Cortese told the Delaware Business Times. “Any time you can point back to a sponsor’s track record of success, it makes my job easier.”
The Horsham real estate firm has developed a former Rohm & Haas/Dow Chemical research and development site into Spring House Innovation Park, among other notable projects.
The concept of taking former life science company locations and turning them into a live, work and play concept is something the MRA Group wants to replicate at CRISP with 1.3 million square feet of space as well as walking paths and other supporting businesses.
Cortese sees other encouraging signs in the life science sector is one to watch, citing the eye-catching sale of MUSE building in San Diego by joint venture Breakthrough Properties, backed by biotech investor Bellco Capital.
Two years ago, Breakthrough Properties worked with D2 Capital Advisors to secure a $130 million construction loan for an eight-story life sciences building in center city Philadelphia.
“That’s just another sign about how strong the market is, as well as the Philadelphia suburbs as well as pushing into Delaware,” Cortese said. “It’s almost like osmosis, as these campuses like CRISP happen in clusters because of how strong life sciences is right now.”
